


How Close is Close Enough

by Why_so_drama



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Jamie is a music major, Lovers to Friends, M/M, Recreational Drug Use, Slow Burn, Tyler is a rock star, to boyfriends, unashamed usage of pop punk songs, with sex!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2020-12-27 05:43:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 36,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21113648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Why_so_drama/pseuds/Why_so_drama
Summary: Tyler and Jamie know that they shouldn’t keep sleeping together now that they’re in the same band, but as long as they keep it casual, it should be fine.The problem is that Tyler falls in love at the drop of a hat, and this time, it doesn’t look like he’s falling out of it any time soon.





	1. Last Good Thing About This Part of Town

**Author's Note:**

> Somehowunbroken was kind enough to provide a mix and a cover for this fic and we are so pleased! They can be found here: [fanmix](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21205997/)
> 
> Title is from _MakeDamnSure_ by Taking Back Sunday
> 
> See end notes for a list of all the songs used for this fic.
> 
> There are a few people that I need to thank because this fic would not have been possible without them. 
> 
> Firstly, Sai. You’re my girl. Every time I had a problem with this, you helped, and you made it better. I know pop punk isn’t your thing, but you encouraged me at every single twist and turn. This would never have been written without your help and I truly appreciate you putting up with my whining throughout the process. 
> 
> Secondly, thank you for the beta [SpiritsFlame](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiritsFlame/pseuds/SpiritsFlame). I appreciate your efforts to help me make this fic better!
> 
> Finally, to everyone on the discord who let me bounce ideas off of them. 
> 
> I appreciate all of you! Thank you so much!
> 
> If anyone is interested in the playlist that I used while writing this, let me know and I will get you a link.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title from _Grand Theft Autumn_ by Fall Out Boy

Tyler wakes up alone, which is pretty unfortunate. The guy he’d taken back to his hotel room the night before—Jamie, he’s pretty sure—had been an unbelievable lay. Confident, eager, and fucking dirty, which is exactly how Tyler likes it. The sex had been good enough that Tyler had made a note in his head to ask the guy for his number, and suggest that maybe they hook up again the next time he’s in the area. Judging by Jamie’s absence, he guesses that’s now out of the equation. It’s not like Tyler can make any real commitments anyway. He’s in Boston for the show last night, and he doesn’t know when he’ll be back again, probably not until their next tour. Maybe it’s better this way: no expectations and Tyler getting nice and fucked the night before. 

He reaches his hand over the bed and finds that it’s still warm, which, interesting. Maybe Jamie hadn’t gotten as far as Tyler thought. It’s at that point that he clues into the sound of the shower running, which means that Jamie hasn’t left at all. He pushes himself up onto his elbows and reaches for his pack of cigarettes, lights one, and then lets the night before wash over him. Maybe he’ll get a repeat performance this morning after all.

He’d met Jamie last night at a sports bar after the show. Spezz had insisted that they go out for one last hurrah, since he’d told them a few weeks ago that he was done, at least for now, and last night had been their last show together. Tyler had intended to watch the game and get good and drunk with his boys, because he wasn’t exactly ready to deal with the fact that Dirty Dangles needed a new singer. He didn’t want to think about Spezz not being with them on the road or in the recording studio anymore. He didn’t want to acknowledge that one of their founding fucking members wasn’t going to share their stage, possibly ever again because _Dirty Dangles_ might even be done by the time he was ready to come back.

The only good thing about the separation was that there really were no hard feelings. Spezz has been making noise about wanting more time at home with his wife and kids for ages; now he can. He’s been talking about how he’s too old to spend most of the year on the road, how he wants to be able to sleep in a bed that’s not moving more than twice a week. Luckily for him, _Dirty Dangles_ had finally made it big with their last album _Across the Blue Line_ and they’ve been travelling the world ever since. Tyler is making more money than he can conceive of, so Spezz will be able to take a break, maybe even a permanent one, and not have to worry about it. He’ll be able to be a good husband, and a father to his girls, and Tyler can’t be upset at him about it. He doesn’t think that it’s a life he wants, but he’s met Spezz’s kids and they’re cute as fuck.

So Tyler had expected to spend some time with his boys watching the game, drink a little too much and then collapse into his hotel bed. What he hadn’t expected was to meet someone that looked like Jamie, all broad and big in a way that makes Tyler feel small, sitting at the bar and watching the Canucks play the Leafs. He hadn’t expected Jamie to slide onto the stool beside him and offer to buy him a drink. Tyler certainly doesn’t need anyone buying him shit anymore, but Jamie was too hot to say no to. He hadn’t expected Jamie’s soft, sweet responding smile, and he certainly hadn’t been expecting his killer fucking chirps.

Tyler is a Toronto boy, born and raised, up to and including being a huge fan of the Leafs and all things Toronto sports. Apparently just being born in a city wasn’t a good enough reason for Jamie, but he’s a Canucks fan from Victoria, so it’s basically the same thing. He hadn’t agreed when Tyler had pointed that out, but Tyler’s pretty sure that with enough time, he can convince him. He’s very good at convincing people. 

They’d spent the entire game chirping each other and buying each other drinks until the third, when they were sitting so close their thighs were touching. Jamie was obviously into whatever Tyler was advertising, so Tyler had brought him up to his hotel room and they’d had a great time. First when they’d initially arrived, second in the middle of the night when they’d both woken up desperate. 

Tyler is just about to message his boys about how they’re going to go about finding a new singer when he hears a voice drifting from behind the closed door of the shower. He pauses, takes a drag from his cigarette, and listens, because everyone sounds great in the shower. He can’t be sure that his overall physical attraction to Jamie isn’t clouding his admittedly poor judgement. But this? This is more than just the shower making him sound good, Tyler realises quickly. Jamie has the voice of a goddamn angel and Tyler never would have known had he not brought him back here last night.

He’s singing some pop song that Tyler doesn’t recognize, but that doesn’t stop his voice from washing over Tyler and settling deep in his bones. He’s already imagining Jamie with Tyler’s words on his tongue, singing with him on a stage, somewhere hot and sticky over the summer. He’s already thinking about the two of them holed up in a room to write the next album, arguing over the flow of the lyrics, the guitar riffs and baselines. Tyler can already see it, but first he’s going to have to convince Jamie. 

He’s finished his cigarette by the time Jamie comes out, still damp and naked, with one of the white towels provided by the hotel slung low on his hips. Tyler takes a moment to give him a good look from head to toe, and then slides over so that Jamie has room on the bed. He’s not expecting it, but Jamie leans over the expanse of the generic white cotton sheets and presses his lips against Tyler’s. The kiss may be brief, but that doesn’t stop Tyler’s toes from curling a little when Jamie slips him some tongue. 

“Good morning,” Jamie greets him, a little grin tugging at his lips. 

“Hi,” Tyler replies. He’s usually pretty smooth with the people he’s picked up, but there’s something about Jamie that makes his heart pound a little faster, that makes his palms feel a bit damp. “I uh, heard you in the shower,” he adds. “You’re really good.”

Jamie flushes and it’s way cuter than it has any right to be, and he says, “I— uh— I just finished school? I majored in music with an emphasis on arrangement and vocals at Berkeley. You’re lucky that I was still here this weekend—I mean, like, I’m moving back home this weekend. But I want to like, break in, start writing songs for other people, you know? So I kinda practice any chance I get.”

“Oh?” Tyler asks him. “So you’re looking for work in the music industry?” This can’t just be a coincidence, this has to be fate.

“Dude, don’t judge okay? A guy can dream.” 

“Of fucking course a guy can dream,” Tyler replies, grin stretching wide acorss his face. He leans into Jamie excitedly, feeling like he’s about to drop the bomb of the century. He’s about to blow this guy’s mind and he’s absolutely delighted to do it. “Have you ever heard of _Dirty Dangles_?” 

Jamie frowns and shrugs. “I think my brother likes them? They’re the ones with the song that goes like _boys like you are a dime a dozen, boys like you are a dime a dozen_ right?” Tyler can’t stop himself from shivering at hearing Jamie sing his words. He sounds incredible and he’s not even trying. “I don’t really know much about them though. Why?” 

Tyler’s lips stretch into an even wider grin, somehow, and sticks his hand out. “Hi, I’m Tyler Seguin, guitarist, lyricist and part time singer of _Dirty_ fucking _Dangles_, and we’re looking for a new frontman.” 

Jamie’s mouth drops open and he just stares for a couple of minutes. Tyler feels his grin start to fade because Jamie’s not saying anything, and he’s just dropping his hand when Jamie bursts out, “what the fuck! What the actual fuck.” 

“Is that good or bad?” Tyler persists. He really needs to know what Jamie is thinking right now. He knows that this must be a lot for someone to handle. Tyler might have a big ego, but he’s not used to people not recognizing him anymore and he’s surprised that Jamie hadn’t. It makes him feel better about their shared night, too. If Jamie hadn’t recognized him, it means that he hadn’t been looking to gain anything by sleeping with him. It means that Jamie had actually wanted to. He knows that not everyone is into his type of music, but oftentimes people still know who he is. 

“I don’t know,” Jamie replies. “I was gonna like, give you my number, tell you to call if you were ever in the Victoria area or whatever. I wanted to fuck you again, that’s all. I wasn’t expecting you to be fucking famous. Didn’t you have a sold out stadium tour last year?” 

“How do you know that, but you don’t know what I look like?” Tyler asks him. 

“I don’t really pay attention to that shit. I like a couple songs, but I was really focused on school. Jordie is the one that likes pop punk. What are you—I don’t know what you mean. You need a new singer?” He sounds panicked, like he doesn’t quite understand what’s happening, so Tyler decides to try to help him out. 

He does so by sliding his hand over Jamie’s damp thigh and leaning in a little closer to get Jamie’s attention. Something to focus on might help him calm down a bit. Once Jamie is looking back at him, he explains, “Spezz is leaving us.” He sighs dramatically, and does his best to look sad and pathetic before adding, “he told us a couple of weeks ago, and like, it’s real shitty, but he’s got a wife and kids and stuff, so he wants to spend time with them. He says he might come back at some point, but that we shouldn’t count on it. We don’t wanna break up because we all love making music together, so we need a singer before we head out on tour in a couple weeks. We haven’t started looking yet, because we just finished a string of shows in this area, so we’re a little behind schedule. You said you were looking for a job in the industry?” 

“I mean, yeah? But like, I thought I’d keep doing youtube shit and, you know, working at it. What are you asking here?” Jamie persists. “Because it sounds like you’re fucking asking me to sing for your band.”

“I mean, you’d have to audition for the other guys, we’d have to teach you our songs and make sure you and I have fucking chemisty, which, lemme tell you, we’ve got _fucking_ chemistry, and then we’d all make the decision together. We’d probably also play some small shows in Toronto too, make sure you’re comfortable on stage and shit.” He looks at Jamie, but it doesn’t seem like he’s done anything to calm him down. That’s not what Tyler wants. He wants Jamie to want to sing with him, because he really thinks that they can make musical magic together if Jamie gives him a shot.

“What I’m saying is that if you come with me to meet up with the guys today, you can sing for them and we can see where things go from there. But like, we’d share vocals, and you’d have to be a frontman and that can be hard.” Tyler’s never had a difficult time on stage, never had trouble expressing his emotions through song. He’s never gotten nervous before playing, whether it’s for thirty people or three thousand. He’s a natural born frontman, but Jamie seems a little bit more shy. 

“I don’t know,” he replies, shrinking in on himself. “I—just like, we can see, right? No expectations yet?” 

“Nah, we’ll just pick a song, sing it, and see what the guys think. You look like you need a smoke?” Tyler pulls his pack out and holds it and his lighter out to Jamie, who shakes his head. Tyler shrugs and puts it back, then asks, “You said you liked a couple songs, wanna practice one of those ones?”

At Jamie’s nod, Tyler grabs his guitar and starts strumming.

-

Later that afternoon, after Tyler’s showered and eaten his weight in greasy food, he and Jamie walk into a hastily booked hotel conference room. After spending the morning practicing, Tyler is even more sure that this is who they want to sing for them. He can’t wait for the guys to hear them so that they can see the brilliance of this idea. 

The two of them settle on stools, Tyler reaching over to squeeze Jamie’s arm before they begin. Jamie looks at him nervously, and Tyler shoots him a wide grin, trying to convey that they have this, that Jamie is gonna be great. The moment hangs between them, charged, but in a different way than their activities the night before. It takes Rig clearing his throat from the other side of the room for it to break.

Everyone is there; Jamie Oleksiak—or Big Rig, their bassist, John Klingberg—Klinger—their drummer, and their manager Ben Bishop. Even Spezz— Jason Spezza— is there because he’d wanted a say in who his replacement was. Jamie has every right to be anxious about this, and so far, even though Tyler can see his nerves, he’s doing pretty well. 

Tyler gives everyone a cheesy wave and pats his guitar gently. “Hey guys, this is Jamie. Jamie, this is Spezz, Rig and Klinger, and our manager Bish. We’re gonna do _Bonus Mosh II_ kay?” After getting a confirmation from the guys, Tyler starts to play.

Jamie misses his first cue; maybe Tyler had misjudged how nervous he is. He circles back around to the beginning of the song, and starts it over seamlessly. He looks toward Jamie questioningly. He needs to know if Jamie is going to be able to do this because it doesn’t matter how good he is if he can’t perform for four people. 

But Jamie rallies, bites his lip and nods. Tyler knows that Jamie can do this, he just needs to realise that himself because he’d sounded amazing in the shower, and even better when they’d been practicing. Tyler doesn’t want anyone but him singing for their band anymore, not if it can’t be Spezz. 

“Come on, Jamie,” he whispers, meeting his eyes right before Jamie starts it up.

“_So scream I heard about your message and how it reeked of your indifference, it bleeds horizontal straight from your wrist,_” he starts out shakily. 

Tyler chimes in with, “_So scream louder now_.” 

Jamie’s looking straight into his eyes, gripping his seat tightly as he continues with the rest of the first verse, “_I’m bound to come around about, but can’t you, can’t you feel it, rolling off your lips, tensing up your shoulders, c’mon_.” And Tyler can tell that they’ve got this now. Jamie’s getting right into it, but he doesn’t look away from Tyler, not even once, not even when they’re singing out, “_it’s love, it’s love, make it hurt, I deserve it_ which makes Tyler really want to close his eyes and let Jamie’s voice wash over him. He’s only known Jamie for a day and already he wants to write a song or six about the guy.

Tyler is so caught up in the words and the lyrics and _Jamie_ that he doesn’t even notice the song come to an end. He doesn’t even register it until his fingers have stopped their strumming and he hears clapping from the other guys. 

“Is it blasphemy if I say that he might be better than Spezz?” Bish says eventually, breaking the awed silence, cueing laughter from the other guys.

“No way man, he’s a thousand times better than me. What the fuck?” Spezz replies. “Dude, how did you just do that?”

“I’m uh, classically trained?” Jamie offers. “Like, I’m a music major. I just spent the last four years singing opera?” 

“Shit man,” Rig replies. “Can we hear something else? Like, I’m already saying yes, but I just wanna hear something different. Something not by us.”

“Yeah, uh…” Jamie’s not coming up what anything immediately, so Tyler takes it upon himself to start playing a song that he thinks they’ll both know. He’s positive Jamie will not only know the tune, but the words as well. 

He knows he’s right when Jamie groans, “Fuck no,” he says. 

“Yes,” Tyler encourages. He needs to lighten the mood in the room a bit, maybe distance himself from thinking that it was really nice to have Jamie singing about love and looking right at him. He’s known Jamie less than a day, and he already knows that falling for him would be the easiest thing. 

“Ty-”

“Jamie, come on,” he urges, laughing as he keeps playing the starting few lines. “You know you know it.”

Jamie shoots him a look, but Tyler knows he’s won when he watches Jamie sucking in air and starts singing, “_When I wake up, well I know I’m gonna be, I’m gonna be the man who wakes up next to you_.”

Tyler chimes in with, “_When I go out, yeah I know I’m gonna be, I’m gonna be the man who goes along with you_.” And then it’s a total free for all. Spezz joins their little circle and sings the third line, and then they’ve got Rig and Klinger jumping in as well. They finally cajole Bish into singing with them too, and everyone is grinning and laughing by the time Jamie belts out, “_to fall down at your doo-ooo-or_.”

When they all finally take their seats again, the mood in the room has shifted from nervous trepidation to something a little more light hearted. Tyler reaches over and pats Jamie’s thigh, gives him a very obvious thumbs up and then turns back to the rest of the band. “What do you think?” He asks. “Jamie’s fucking great, yeah?”

“I wouldn’t wanna step on Rig’s toes, though, by adding another Jamie to the group,” Klinger chirps, only to have Spezz punch him in the arm.

“Fuck off,” Rig replies. “I say he’s in.”

“Me too,” Bish adds, “for whatever it’s worth. We can definitely use someone this talented, considering how terrible the rest of you are.” 

“This guy is too fucking good for you guys, so you’d better snap him up while he’s still willing to join the band. Do you play, or just sing?” Spezz asks, because yeah, that’s kind of important too. 

“Oh, uh, I play. I basically play everything, so you can just tell me what you need and I can do it,” Jamie tells them bashfully. Tyler honestly cannot handle how cute he is. 

“Guitar?”

“Yeah, first thing I ever picked up.”

“Bass?”

“Come on, what are these softball questions?” Jamie teases them. “Gimme something good.” 

“Harp?” Rig responds.

“Yep.”

“What the fuck. Um, Tuba?”

“Tried it once, but like, I’m not that great at wind instruments because I always want to be singing.” 

“Okay…”

“Basically anything with strings I’ve at least tried to play, and I can play the piano and keyboards. Organ too, because you can make these dope ass sounds with it. What do you guys need?”

“Well, Spezz played guitar,” Tyler tells him, “so that’s great. We’ve been talking about adding in some keyboards. Sounds like you’re perfect for us.” He gives him his most winning smile and waggles his eyebrows a little, making Jamie grin back at him. 

“We gotta celebrate, who’s hungry?” Klinger asks. Klinger is always hungry, so he’s not surprised to hear him suggesting they all go out. Tyler’s hungry too, so he lets out a whoop in response and starts to put his guitar away. 

“Jamie, you’re from here, tell us where to go,” Klinger adds, and then Jamie is walking away from him, toward his new bandmates. Tyler pauses in putting his stuff away to watch Jamie go just because the sight of it is incredible. He bends down to finish up when he feels a hand on his shoulder and looks up to see Spezz there. 

“You slept with him, didn’t you?” He asks. He’s not being accusatory. Tyler sleeps with so many people that if Spezz had a problem with it, Tyler would have found out long before now. 

“Uh, yeah. Last night,” he replies. “Do you think that will be a problem?”

Spezz shrugs. He’s been with his wife for as long as Tyler has known him, so he’s never succumb to the wiles of their many beautiful fans. “I don’t know,” he admits. “I just think that you both should talk about it before it happens again. I know you fall in love with literally every fucking person you meet, but he might not. And if you’re gonna keep fucking, which I know you are, don’t even deny it, you need to set up some boundaries.”

“The sex was really fucking good,” Tyler tells him, “but I’ve had good sex before. We can cool it, make sure there’s nothing going on other than a real good bone session.”

“That was way too much information, information that I do not need, nor want, since I will not be sharing a tour bus with you anymore. Maybe warn him about you picking up at shows too, since he’s gonna be the one listening to it.”

“I think I’m gonna wait a couple weeks before I scare him off like that,” Tyler retorts. “But yeah, I’ll talk to him. Hey Spezz?”

“Yeah?” 

“He’s so much fucking better than you, why didn’t you quit before now?” Tyler teases. “Like, dude, did you hear him?”

“Oh fuck you,” Spezz replies laughing. “You’re gonna miss the shit out of me.” 

“I am not definitely going to miss you throwing condoms at me every time I come onto the bus with someone.” 

“You will when you run out of condoms,” Spezz points out.

Tyler shrugs and slings his guitar over his shoulder. He leaves it at the front desk as he and Spezz follow the rest of the guys to some diner Jamie is familiar with. “I am gonna miss you, bud,” Tyler admits. 

“I know, I’m gonna miss you guys too,” Spezz tells him. “But I’m glad you found Jamie so soon after I said I was done.”

Tyler chuckles. “Me too. He seems pretty great.” 

“Just be careful. I know you, and I know you get your heart broken easily.” 

“Yeah, but then I write fifty songs in two days, get over it, and fall in love again the next day. I’ll be fine.”

Spezz looks at him for a moment like he doesn’t believe him, and then shrugs. “Cool. Good talk man.”

Tyler doesn’t get the chance to say anything else because they’ve arrived at the restaurant. Before they can go in, they’re stopped for some photos and signatures, but then they’re joining the rest of the band. Tyler is happy when he sees Jamie sitting between the other two, trying to keep up with whatever they’re saying. Something settles in Tyler’s chest as he watches them; in that moment, he really thinks that Jamie is the one for them.


	2. Falling in Love, One Step at a Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title from _Take my Hand_ by Divided Minds

Jamie doesn’t get the chance to settle down until he gets back to his apartment that night; only then does he let the day sink in. He still can’t believe that the guy he’d hooked up with the night before was the bassist for Jordie’s favourite band. It still seems so surreal to him that he’s actually fooled around with Tyler _Seguin_. From the way he’d kissed Jamie back that morning, and from the way Tyler kept looking at him all day, Jamie’s pretty sure there’s an open offer there to have it happen again. In fact, Jamie is pretty sure Tyler would have said yes if he’d asked him back to his apartment, but he needs some time alone. He needs to let this all sink in.

Instead of taking a moment to breathe, he reaches for his phone and immediately facetimes Jordie. If anyone will know what to say about the situation that Jamie had gotten himself into, it’s his brother. Jodie’s face appears, cranky and confused. “Jamie?” He asks. 

“Uh, hi. Hi, Jordie,” Jamie replies before throwing himself down onto his bed. “How’s it going?” 

“Okay?” Jordie replies. “What’s up? There’s gotta be a reason you’re calling without texting first.” 

“Oh yeah, shit. Uh, sorry about that. But um. I uh-”

“Oh my fucking god, just spit it out,” Jordie replies, obviously exasperated. “If you got yourself into a jam, we’ll get you out, you just gotta tell me what’s up.”

“Nothing like that, I promise. It’s just kinda a big deal and I’m not sure how to start,” Jamie admits. “It’s just. It’s been a really fucking crazy day.”

“Start at the beginning then,” Jordie urges. 

“Okay so you know that band you like? _Dirty Dangles_? Well, I kinda slept with Tyler Seguin last night,” Jamie finally says.

“What the fuck,” Jordie replies. “How did you manage…?”

“He was at the bar I always go to, watching the game. I didn’t know who he was, just that he was hot, so I bought him a drink. After that, we just watched together and it all ended up being pretty natural. Anyway, that’s not even the most fucked up part.”

“How is there more to this story?” Jordie asks. Jordie’s not even gay. He’s been dating the sweetest girl that Jamie has ever met for years, but he’s always been willing to talk Jamie through it when he needs to ask for advice. The thing is, Jamie doesn’t really need advice about Tyler, at least not yet.

“So uh, don’t spread this around, but _Dirty Dangles’_ singer quit a couple weeks ago?” Jamie starts. 

“Yeah, I know that. He announced it. The band’s not breaking up though, thank fucking Christ. They’re like, my number one to listen to at the gym so…” Jordie is a hockey player, so he takes his gym tunes very seriously. “What does this have to do with anything?”

Jamie steels himself and takes a deep breath, “Well you know that I hooked up with Tyler and uh…”

“Look, I know he didn’t get you fucking pregnant so spit it out,” Jordie insists. “Did you forget to use a condom or something? Because I’ll go with you to get tested and shit—”

“No, no, that’s uh. That’s not it. I, uh. I’m the new lead singer for Dirty Dangles, okay, bye,” Jamie says in a rush and then promptly hangs up on his brother. He hasn’t said it out loud yet, and it’s kind of a huge life altering deal. Jamie was being truthful earlier that day when he said that he’d expected to struggle before anything really happened in his music career. Maybe he would have ended up on one of those talent shows, who knew? He hadn’t expected to sleep with a guy that was hot like fire and end up being invited to join a famous band. 

Jamie nearly drops his phone when it starts to vibrate again. It’s Jordie, of course it is, because Jamie just told him something so unbelievable that Jamie is having trouble coming to terms with it and then immediately hung up. He slides the button over to answer it, only to hear Jordie start yelling, “What the actual fuck, Jamie!? How am I just hearing about this now? What the fuck? What the actual—”

Jamie pulls the phone away and hangs up again. He doesn’t need to deal with Jordie’s freaking out on top of his own. This is a huge thing that’s just happened to him and he needs someone that can calm him down.

His phone is going off again, so he slides it over, and Jordie says, “I’m sorry. Okay, tell me how this all happened.”

Jamie takes a breath, and lets it all spill out. He doesn’t mention kissing Tyler again this morning because he knows there’s only so much that Jordie can take, but he does tell him everything else, from the singing in the shower, to the makeshift audition in front of the rest of the band. He finishes it off with, “so I’m not coming home anymore. I’ll have to call mom and dad tomorrow, but I’m basically packing up and going to Toronto so we can get our shit together as a band. We touring in a couple weeks and there’s so much to do before that.”

“They’re gonna miss you,” Jordie says, making Jamie’s heart sink a little. “But they’re gonna be so happy. Do you need me to come by and help you pack?” Jordie’s playing the Bruins tomorrow night, and they’d been planning to get a meal together beforehand. 

“Tyler said he’s gonna stay. The rest of the band is heading out tomorrow, but he’s gonna come over, so…” Jamie shrugs, and since they’re on facetime, he knows Jordie actually sees him. “I mean, you can, but Tyler is gonna be here too.”

“Is that gonna be a problem for you? Planning on getting laid some more?” Jordie teases. 

“Uh, maybe? I don’t really know where he stands, and maybe we shouldn’t, if we’re gonna be in the band together. I wouldn’t say no, though,” Jamie admits, flushing slightly. It’s been hard not to think about their night together, even with everything else that had happened today. Tyler had been perfect with the way he rode Jamie that first time, the way his mouth dropped open as he came. Jamie remembers their hurried coupling during the night, desperate and wanting. He remembers how good it was and he knows he wants more of that. He’s had good sex before but this… this was more than just good. 

“Well maybe I should come, make sure you don’t fuck up your band before you’re even really part of it,” Jordie suggests. “Then you’ll at least get the chance to get on the same page. And I get to meet the singer and guitarist of my favourite band.”

“You’ve already met me. You’ve known me my whole life,” Jamie protests. 

“Yeah, but I don’t know you as the singer of Dirty Dangles. You’re like this whole new person to me.”

“Sure. I’ll see you tomorrow, Jord,” Jamie tells him. His brother has successfully managed to calm him down, which was why he’d wanted to call him in the first place. Now that he’s feeling a little better, he asks, “Do you really think I can do this?”

“Fuck yeah I do,” Jordie states, brokering no room for argument. “You’re a fucking dope guitar player, and your voice isn’t like anyone I’ve ever heard. You’re so good Jamie, and I’m kinda looking forward to the world getting to see that too.”

Jamie takes a deep breath, letting the words wash over him. Sometimes, when he’s not confident in himself, he has to talk to Jordie. Jordie’s always been his biggest fan, encouraging him to follow his dreams, even when that had turned out not to be playing hockey together on the same NHL team. 

He takes another deep breath, and says, “Thanks, man, I really appreciate it.” 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, big shot.”

“Yeah,” Jamie agrees. “See you soon.” 

They finally disconnect, and then Jamie collapses back against his bed. It’s been quite the day and he just needs a minute to himself now that he’s been able to talk to someone about it. He needs to breathe, he needs— 

But his phone is chiming now, and he looks over to see that it’s Tyler. _We’re coming over with beer_ reads the message and Jamie guesses that this is what it’s like to be in a band; guys always up in his space, not giving him any time to himself. Jamie can’t fucking wait. He responds immediately with his address and then just waits for them all to show up.

Things start out pretty innocently; there’s beer, of course, but the guys are actually helping him pack. He’d been most of the way there, so it doesn’t take them that long to throw the rest of his non-essential items into boxes. Then Tyler starts pouring tequila shots.

“Is this a good idea if they're all travelling in the morning?” 

“No worries, they’ll rally,” Tyler assures him. “Now, you doing this with me or not?” 

Jamie is forced to take the shot glass when Tyler presses it into his hand. It doesn’t look like Tyler brought any lemon or anything to chase it with, so Jamie just clinks his glass against Tyler’s and then tips the liquid into his mouth and down his throat. He makes a face, wrinkling his nose and shakes his head. “I will never get used to that,” he admits.

Tyler’s face is equally disgusted, so Jamie feels vindicated about the whole situation. If an actual rock star can’t take a tequila shot without making a face, Jamie’s pretty sure that he’ll be forgiven for the same thing. “Can’t knock the effects though, am I right?” 

“Uh, sure.” 

They continue on taking shots, along with the rest of the guys until the bottle is near empty. Jamie ends up unpacking his guitar at some point and everyone starts to pass it around, taking requests. It’s honestly one of the best nights of Jamie’s life, being in his mostly empty apartment with a bunch of guys that he barely knows, bonding over music. Jamie ends up singing a bunch of different stuff, both traditional camping songs like _Wonderwall_ and other numbers that really show off his vocal range. 

Everytime he gets to sing, he can feel Tyler’s eyes on him. Jamie tries his best, but he can’t ignore the way Tyler is looking at him; it’s like he’s the best thing that Tyler has ever seen. It feels like a lot of pressure, honestly. Jamie is taking over a role that Spezz had been very successful at, and these guys, along with his brother, really seem to think that he can do it. Tyler especially seems to have faith in him, if the forced audition is anything to go by. Jamie knows that he’s good, so there’s that, he’d just always expected to be more in the background.

Eventually, there are more shots of tequila, “To finish off the bottle,” Tyler says, and his guitar gets packed up once again. Jamie’s in the kitchen, cleaning up whatever mess they’d made when he finds that Tyler has followed him in. 

“Dude, you’re so fucking good, you have no idea,” Tyler gushes. “Seriously man, I can’t even believe it when you sing. It’s like nothing I’ve ever heard in my life.” 

It’s pretty clear that he’s drunk, since he’s listing to the side, then weaving a little as he tries to retain his balance. Jamie is drunk too, and these words coming from Tyler feel like a complete validation of going to school for music instead of something more practical. Immediately getting this offer is proving to Jamie that he hadn’t made a mistake. He feels himself flush, and it’s only a little bit because of the alcohol. 

“Thanks,” Jamie replies quietly. “And like, thanks for taking a chance on me,” he makes sure to add. 

“Bro, come on, of fucking course we’re taking a chance on you. You’re fucking incredible. In like, lots of ways,” Tyler professes, waggling his eyebrows and stumbling forward a little. 

Jamie knows that Tyler is drunk, and he knows that he’s drunk himself. He also knows that this is a terrible idea, but he finds himself catching Tyler by the arms and reeling him in so that they’re very, very close. “I still really appreciate it,” he says. 

Tyler just flashes him a wide grin, then leans forward and closes the distance between them. Jamie should have expected it, but he finds himself shifting backward. Tyler meets his every move and Jamie ends up pressed against the counter with Tyler’s mouth against his. It’s the worst idea, to continue to fool around with a guy that’s about to be a huge part of his life. Jamie has probably made bigger mistakes in the past, but right now he can’t think of one. Knowing that this isn’t a great decision doesn’t stop Jamie from spreading his thighs and pulling Tyler closer, kissing him more deeply, and getting his hands beneath Tyler’s shirt. 

He can feel Tyler’s short beard rubbing against his own and he knows that his skin is going to be red from this as soon as it’s over. He doesn’t want to think about that though, he wants to focus on the way that Tyler’s lips move against his, wet and sloppy. Tyler’s mouth and tongue taste like the tequila that they’ve been drinking, but that doesn’t stop Jamie from tilting his head to get a better angle to sample him. Jamie feels Tyler all but melt against him, and has to pull away so that he can kiss all the way down his neck. 

By the time they’re interrupted by Bish clearing his throat from the doorway, Jamie’s got a hand down the back of Tyler’s tight jeans and a generous handful of his ass. Nonetheless, they spring apart and Jamie flushes an even deeper red at having been caught. 

“Just came in for some water, don’t mind me,” Bish says as he manoeuvres past them to fill a glass. “Glad to see the two of you getting along so well.” 

Being interrupted by their band’s manager really puts into perspective what a bad idea this is. Tyler seems to agree because as soon as Bish leaves the kitchen, they both head back to the living room, where everyone else is still hanging out. After that, there are more drinks, and Jamie loses track of what’s going on. He and Tyler keep their distance, like they both know that if they don’t, they’ll end up in the same situation as they did when they were alone in the kitchen. 

Even if he can’t spend the rest of the night making out with Tyler, hanging out with these guys is fun. They finish off the case of beer in Jamie’s fridge and eventually someone breaks out some bud and a lighter. After that, everything is a little hazy.

Jamie wakes up the next morning with the guys strewn all over his small apartment, and heavy knocking on his door. He sits up, which proves to have been a mistake as he feels pain explode from temple to temple. Immediately, he lies back down, only to find a warm, hairy chest beneath his head. That’s a surprise, to say the least, and Jamie finds himself sitting up against, albeit more slowly this time. He hopes beyond hope that it’s not Tyler. No way they fucked up this badly already, alcohol or not. But no, it’s definitely not Tyler. Jamie blinks through the dim light and identifies that chest as belonging to Big Rig. They must have passed out in Jamie’s bed together at some point.

The knocking continues and Jamie groans. It’s too early for this, and he doesn’t want to deal with a visitor. It’s probably Molly from across the way, coming over to ask about the noise from the night before. He likes Molly a lot, and he probably would have gotten him to come over but he’d been so distracted by Tyler that he hadn’t even thought of it. Suddenly, he feels bad — he and Molly have lived across the hall from each other for four years now, and Molly’s always been a good bro. He already feels terrible physically, so he doesn’t want to see Molly’s disappointed face. 

Instead of getting up, Jamie puts his hand over his head, trying to will his headache to disappear, and plants his feet firmly on the ground at the same time as he hears voices. 

“Holy fuck.” And that sounds suspiciously like Jordie.

“Oh my god,” comes the reply. He’s pretty sure that one is Klinger, but he’s not quite positive.

“You’re John Klingberg, of _Dirty Dangles_.” Yep, Jamie was right. 

“You’re Jordie Benn, formerly of the Dallas Stars, and the Montreal Canadiens, and currently playing for the Vancouver Canucks. Holy fuck.” 

“What are you doing in my brother’s apartment?” 

“Wait, who is your brother?” Jamie hears Klinger ask. 

“Uh, Jamie Benn?”

“What the fuck, Benny!” Klinger shouts. “Get your ass out here. You didn’t tell us your _brother_ played in the NHL!”

That’s Jamie’s cue to try to stand up. He uses his bedside table to heft himself to his feet and slowly shuffles into the living room. “Uh, what’s going on? Jordie, what are you doing here?” 

“I told you I was gonna come to help you pack up and shit,” Jordie responds. “Did you forget?”

“No,” Jamie assures him. He hadn’t, after all. “I just expected you to come later, because of like, practice or whatever. Come in. The guys are all here somewhere, although we got kinda fucked up last night, so I can’t guarantee they’ll be in their best form.”

“Why are you being so fucking loud?” Comes another complaint from somewhere around the living room. Jamie’s pretty sure it’s Bish this time. Rig had been deeply asleep when Jamie crawled out of his bed. He has no idea where Tyler is, but that doesn’t matter right at this moment. 

He leads his brother to the kitchen and has the decency to look sheepish in reaction to the judgemental look on Jordie’s face. His kitchen is a bit of a wreck. “The guys came over to help me pack last night and uh… we got carried away.”

“I can tell,” Jordie replies. “Nice hickey.”

Jamie reaches up to press against his neck and can tell from the sting that Jordie isn’t just fucking with him. “Shit,” he replies. “Don’t tell mom and dad.” 

“Is Tyler a vampire or something, because those are some fucking intense bites, bro,” Jordie continues, not even acknowledging that Jamie told him not to tell their parents, which absolutely means that he will.

Jamie is about to reply, but then Tyler is stumbling out of the bathroom, and he looks even worse than Jamie had; his neck and chest are covered in marks, which tells Jamie that they’d definitely fooled around again after that time in the kitchen. He can’t remember it but there’s no one else Who could have done it. He feels himself flush and refuses to even look at Jordie, because he knows the exact expression that will be on his face.

“What the fuck, I think I slept in the bathtub,” Tyler murmurs. “Jamie, Jamie, please tell me there’s coffee, or fucking… gatorade, or like…” Jamie can tell the exact moment that he notices Jordie, because his eyes go wide and his mouth drops open just a little bit, and then he turns toward Jamie accusingly. “What the fuck! Jordie Benn is in your apartment! You couldn’t warn a guy?” 

“Jordie Benn is his brother,” Klinger supplies casually. 

“What the fuck, Jamie!” Tyler responds immediately, eyes wide. “Your brother! You could have told me that’s why you’re a Canucks fan!”

“That’s not why,” Jamie replies. 

But that’s when he finally turns toward Jordie and notices that he’s in a state of shock as well. He’d totally forgotten that Dirty Dangles is Jordie’s favourite band. This changes everything. 

“Hey Jordie, wake up,” Jamie teases, causing Jordie to divert his gaze from Tyler.

“Holy fuck,” Jordie murmurs. “Dude. _Dirty Dangles_ is my literal favourite fucking band. Back in Dallas, we played you guys in the locker room all the time. I can’t— you’re in my brother’s apartment. What the fuck man?” 

“Did he not tell you we’d be here?” Bish asks from the kitchen. He’s holding a steaming cup, so Jamie can only assume that he’s unpacked the coffee pot and brewed them all some. “Because he sure as hell didn’t tell us you’d be here. I’m Ben Bishop, their manager.” 

“Oh, I know who you are,” Jordie replies. “Insta,” he adds as an explanation. “And no, he said Tyler would be here, but not everyone else.”

“Oh, we crashed,” Bish tells him. “We’re heading to Toronto today, and Tyler thought that helping Jamie pack would be good for band bonding.”

Jamie’s just standing there awkwardly through the whole thing and just shrugs at them. “I thought you’d get here later,” he says. “I didn’t think you’d be here at…” he glances at his watch and adds, “fuck, three pm.”

“Yeah, exactly,” Jordie chirps.

“Well, we have to get going,” Bish announces. “There’s coffee in the kitchen.” He goes over and rounds up the other two, pressing travel mugs of coffee into their hands and then ushering them out the door. “See you in a couple days,” he adds cheerfully from the door. “Don’t get anyone pregnant.”

With that, it’s just the three of them. Jamie empties the rest of the pot of coffee into a couple mugs and then gets them all onto the couch, where Tyler collapses against his shoulder. 

“I’m never drinking again,” he complains. “Never. Jamie, protect me from myself.”

“Don’t put that pressure on me,” Jamie protests. “I’m not your dad.” 

“No,” Tyler replies, smirking. “You’re more of a daddy.” 

“Oh my god, why the fuck did I come here?” Jordie interrupts.

“Because you love me,” Jamie responds, grinning at him innocently. He adds, “I’ll be your daddy anytime,” to Tyler just so that he can fuck with Jordie.

“Jesus fucking christ,” Jordie complains, getting up and leaving them alone in the living room. 

Jamie breaks into giggles and Tyler soon joins him. It’s things like this that make Jamie sure that he’s made the right decision in joining the band. He and Tyler are getting along really well so far, even outside of the sex stuff, and Jamie likes hte other guys too. He shoots one more grin over at Tyler before getting up to help Jordie pack up the rest of the stuff. The moving truck will be by tomorrow to pick everything up and bring it to Victoria to store at his parents’ house. He’s got a few things set aside to bring with him to Toronto but he’ll be without most of it until he gets his own place, wherever that ends up being. 

Once they finish up the last few things, Jordie bids them goodbye. The only reason he’d been able to make it in the first place is because of having a game the next day in Boston. Jamie wishes him luck before they part ways, and he and Tyler head to a hotel for the night. They have an early flight in the morning and they’re both fighting off some massive hangovers, so they end up in bed pretty early. 

That doesn’t mean they’re about to go to sleep though, which is made clear when Tyler rolls on top of Jamie and murmurs, “this okay?”

“Yeah,” Jamie replies before dragging him down for a kiss. It’s definitely okay. Jamie is more than okay with this.


	3. A Hotter Touch, A Better Fuck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title from _Lying is the Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking off her Clothes_ by Panic at the Disco

There’s a car waiting to pick them up once they get to Toronto. After a brief discussion, where Tyler had pointed out all the benefits of not having to stay in a hotel, Jamie had agreed to stay with him for the time being. It had made the most sense since Tyler will be spending the most time with their new singer, and he’s got the extra space. They get into the car together and Tyler sits back in his seat. He’s always liked watching the Toronto streets go by on his way home from the airport. “I think you’re gonna like it here,” he tells Jamie, shooting him a grin. 

“How long ‘til we get there?” Jamie asks him as he looks out the window. “I mean, just out of curiosity.” 

“At least a half hour, dude. You should just sit back and watch the city go by. I think I still have that bud from last night, we could smoke it while we wait,” Tyler offers.

“Uh, no, that’s okay,” Jamie replies. He wrings his hands a little bit and bites his lip, which really shouldn’t be as endearing as it is. Tyler has to lean in and catches those lips with his own. He’s always liked watching the city go by as he comes back from the airport, but he thinks he might like kissing Jamie a bit more. Kissing Jamie might lead to more things with Jamie, and Tyler already knows how good he is in bed. The realization that he might want to do this more than watch the city reveal itself one block at a time comes as a surprise; he’s only just met Jamie, and he’s known Toronto his whole life. 

Tyler falls in love easily, but he’s never loved someone as much as he loves this city but that doesn’t stop him from sliding his tongue into Jamie’s mouth and kissing him until they’re both breathing heavily. He’s about to lean in again, get some more kissing in before they arrive at his condo, but Jamie puts a hand up to stop him. “We should talk, maybe,” he suggests. 

“Talking ruins everything,” Tyler complains. “Kissing is better.” 

He watches as Jamie reddens, sees the flush spread over his cheeks, but he doesn’t look like he’s about to crack. That means he’s going to insist on actually talking, which is not what Tyler wants at all. “What’s the play?” He asks.

“I thought the play was more making out,” Tyler responds. “Is that not a thing anymore?”

“Uh, that definitely can still be a thing, but like, no one knows you have a new singer. What’s the play with that?”

That’s not what Tyler had expected, but maybe it should have been. He was afraid that Jamie would say that they needed to stop fooling around, and while Tyler is sure this thing between them will fizzle out, because all of his things with anyone do, he doesn’t want it to end just yet. 

“Oh, that,” Tyler replies, “so our PR manager is coming by this afternoon to talk to us about a launch strategy. You’ll meet with our stylist tomorrow and get a makeover, and we’ll probably end up recording something with you on vocals, which will be released as per the launch strategy. During that time, we’ll make sure that you learn each and every song that we plan to play on tour. We’re also gonna hang out with the other guys too, maybe do some local shows to get you used to being onstage. Any questions?”

“Shit, you’ve got it all planned out?” Jamie asks. 

“I had a busy afternoon before me and the guys crashed your place. Now that we’ve found you, we gotta make sure we do a fucking good job in introducing you. There’s always gonna be someone that thinks Spezz was better, or that we’re shit now that we’ve added someone new, but fuck ‘em. We think you’re amazing, and we’re gonna make sure we do everything possible to make sure that our fans think the same,” Tyler explains. 

“Do you really think I need a makeover?” Jamie persists. “Seems kinda…” 

“It doesn’t matter what I think, which is that you’re fucking hot AF, what matters is if you fit the image, and you look a little too innocent right now to really be in Dirty Dangles. Have you ever thought about getting a tattoo? I mean like, a badass one. I think your _Brothers Benn_ one is fucking adorable, but you’re in a band now…” 

“I’ve actually always wanted more, I’ve just been too fucking poor. Jordie offered to pay, but he’s already covered my tuition and rent and shit. I can’t ask for more,” Jamie tells him with a shrug. “So I’m not opposed.” 

“Good, I’m gonna take you to my guy here before we start the tour, cool?”

They’re pulling up to Tyler’s downtown condo when Jamie nods at him, still looking nervous but adorable nonetheless. Tyler hops out of the car and immediately lights up a cigarette before they go inside. “Tonight we’re gonna fuck around in the recording studio though, see what we can come up with for a launch song to introduce you with.” He takes a long drag and leans against the building as he exhales. 

“Speaking of fucking around… do you think it’s a good idea to keep hooking up?” Jamie asks him. Here it is, the talk that Tyler had been dreading this whole time. 

He takes another drag on his cigarette before responding. “I hate to fucking admit it, but you’re probably right. I don’t wanna fuck up the band. Like, we’re already dealing with Spezz leaving and that’s enough drama, I think. It’s just shitty, because you’re an excellent lay.” 

Jamie leans back against the building next to him and sighs, “I was afraid you were gonna say that, but you’re right,” he complains. “And I know it’s a bad idea, but I don’t wanna stop.” 

“Me neither,” Tyler agrees, “but…?”

There shouldn’t be a but. Jamie looks like he’s thinking about it though, judging by the way he’s biting his lip and looking far away. “But as long as we keep it casual, it should be okay, yeah?”

“No feelings fucking?” Tyler asks. He finishes his cigarette and puts it out in one of the nearby containers meant for them. “So we keep doing it but stop if one of us starts to like, feel shit? That would work, but like, I fucking fall in love with basically everyone I meet. It’s never really a big thing, just like, I’m super into people for a couple weeks then it fizzles out. I fall in love within twenty seconds of meeting someone and I’m already halfway there with you. So this has gotta be on you, if you wanna keep fucking. I can’t be trusted to know if I have like, love feelings or if I just really like getting naked with you. So, if you start feeling all mushy about me and shit, you gotta tell me, and we’ll stop.”

“Deal,” Jamie replies as they step into the elevator. “I think I can handle that.”

Tyler grins at him and swipes his key FOB to admit them into the building. The elevator is the kind that has glass panels facing the outside so that riders can watch the city as they go up. Tyler loves it, especially at night, when Toronto is glittering with lights. He points outside to the CN Tower for Jamie, who immediately turns his back.

“What the fuck? What would you move here?” 

“Because the elevator is dope as fuck?” Tyler offers. 

“No, fuck, I hate heights.” 

“Jamie Benn,” Tyler teases, “you’re afraid of heights?” It seems pretty unbelievable, since Jamie has been so good at everything so far.

“Who isn’t!? They’re terrifying! Like, what if that glass just breaks and we fall to our deaths? What if a bird flies into the window pane and shatters it all? We could die, man.” 

“Well, thankfully it didn’t happen this time,” Tyler tells him as the elevator door opens to his floor. He squeezes Jamie’s hip and guides him out. This floor of the building only has two condos, and Tyler’s is one of them. The other used to belong to Phil Kessel when he was still playing for Toronto, but their timing never lined up, so Tyler had never gotten to actually meet him. Now the space belongs to the CEO of some start up, and Tyler has only run into her a few times. 

He scans his FOB again and opens the door for Jamie. “Home for now,” he says. “I’ll have to go pick up the boys from my mom’s place soon, but you can just settle in if you want.” 

“The boys?” 

“Oh, my puppies!” Tyler explains. “I’ve got three: Marshall, Cash and Gerry. They’re all labs, but they stay with my mom when I’m not in the city. Since we’re here for a month-ish, I’m gonna move them back in.”

“I love dogs. Jordie’s got one, but I was in school, so…” 

“Well, you can give them as much love as you want. They’re pretty great.” 

He shows Jamie the spare room so that he can store his stuff, and then gives him a bit of a tour. The condo itself is an open concept, but Tyler has a recording studio tucked away in one of the corners. He hadn’t decorated himself, so the place is a little impersonal, with modern styled furniture and generic art up on the walls. He does have an area for the awards that the band had earned, and a little entertainment unit full of Maple Leafs decor, but otherwise, it’s just a run of the mill higher end living space. 

Once he makes sure Jamie is settled in, Tyler heads out to pick up his boys. He ends up spending more time than he’s expecting with his mom and sisters, and by the time he gets home, it’s around eight. He’s laden down with his mom’s cooking, and he has the boys circling around his legs. He lets them in first and they scramble to smell everything. He’s not sure where Jamie is, so he just puts the food on the counter and starts to investigate. 

Despite his condo being one of the larger sized ones in this building, it’s still not hard to find Jamie. He’s in the recording studio, holding his own acoustic guitar gently, frowning at his phone. He hasn’t noticed Tyler’s presence yet, so Tyler watches as he puts his phone aside and starts strumming. 

“_She said don’t—don’t let it go to your head_,” Jamie sings out as he starts playing some of the notes. Tyler is stationary in the doorway so that he can let his lyrics on Jamie’s tongue wash over him. Jamie is just so good. His voice is perfect for their sound, and Tyler still can’t get over the fact that the only reason Jamie is here with him now is because they’d hooked up after a hockey game in Boston. If they’d decided to go their separate ways, he never would have known.

He’s planning on letting Jamie finish the song, but then Gerry sneaks past him into the room, and Gerry _knows_ he’s not allowed in here. “Oh shit, Ger, no, out!” Tyler calls out, which causes Jamie to come to a faltering stop to his song. Gerry doesn’t listen, just keeps barrelling into the room to see Jamie. Then Tyler gets to watch Jamie slide his guitar off and get onto his knees to say hello to his dog. 

Tyler knows that he’s gonna end up falling in love with Jamie; he’s already at least a little in love with everyone in his band, and he’s already hooked up with Jamie. This—watching Jamie let Gerry give him kisses, watching him pet Gerry’s head—it’s just going to make it happen faster. 

“Okay Gerry, that’s enough,” Tyler says, finally. “You can make friends with Jamie outside of the room with very expensive equipment. Come on,” he instructs. Gerry bows his head guiltily but listens and leaves the room. “Sorry, they’re not allowed in here,” he tells Jamie. 

Jamie nods and stands up, “He’s just so cute,” he says, shrugging. “I was working on some of the songs while you were gone.” 

“I heard,” Tyler tells him. He moves closer into the room and adds, “Did you record any of it?” 

“Not yet. I figured that we should do it together. Was that song okay though?” 

“For sure. We can practice more later, for now you should come meet the rest of the crew,” Tyler tells him. “And my mom sent home food for you.” 

Tyler leads Jamie out of the room and closes the door behind them. He introduces him to the other two pups and gets Jamie set up with his dinner. Afterward, they head to the entertainment room to relax a little before going to bed. It starts out with them on opposite sides, with the dogs sprawled on the floor around them, but eventually, Tyler ends up right up next to Jamie, with Jamie’s arm wrapped around his shoulders. It’s not too difficult to lean against Jamie’s sturdy chest after that, and even less effort to stretch up and kiss him. 

Tyler knows that they were always heading this way, that they were always going to end up making out if they were in the same place alone for too long. He’d known it all along, but he’s also not going to do anything to stop it. Jamie’s already agreed to say something if things are going too far, so there’s no reason not to do it. They’re both on the same page, and it would be an absolute travesty not to get down with Jamie’s dick ever again. 

Things get hot very quickly, and Tyler soon finds himself straddling Jamie’s lap, feeling those strong thighs underneath him. Jamie’s big hands fit themselves around Tyler’s hips and Tyler leans back so that Jamie can trail his mouth down his neck. The first time they’d done this, the two of them hadn’t had anything to lose. They’d been strangers in a bar, both looking for a good time. The last time, they’d both been fighting pretty epic hangovers, and they’d been in another hotel room.

Now there’s a lot more to think about. There’s the fact that Jamie is now an important part of their band, and also the fact that Tyler keeps falling in love with his dick. The more they fuck, the more Tyler is going to start feeling, and that will put them in a precarious situation as well. Tyler doesn’t want to think about that right now, not with Jamie sucking little marks into his skin, not with Jamie slowly rolling his hips against Tyler’s ass.

He pulls away for a moment, meets Jamie’s eyes—dark and glassy with lust, eyelids heavy, giving Tyler the most intense bedroom eyes he’s ever received—then leans in for another proper kiss. He slides his own hand slowly up Jamie’s neck, cups his cheek as he slips his tongue past Jamie’s parting lips. He feels Jamie’s hand tighten on his hip, feels the other snake it’s way up the back of his shirt, cradling him, letting him lean back further without worry that he’ll fall. 

They kiss. There’s no rush to go further just yet, so they kiss. Tyler nibbles Jamie’s plush lips, tugs at the lower one and then tips his head back so that Jamie can move back to his neck. He squeezes Jamie’s shoulder gently, brings the hand that had been set on his cheek over so that he can bury his fingers in Jamie’s hair. 

“Jamie,” he breathes, encouragingly. “Jamie, let’s—” He doesn’t finish the thought because Jamie’s biting down on his collarbone and it feels _delicious_.

He wants to go to bed, wants to lay back and let Jamie take him apart. He also wants to stay right here, kissing enthusiastically, but without any need to go further. He wants to feel Jamie’s bulk above him, wants to be smothered by Jamie’s body, but he also wants to see how far Jamie will take his current mission of marking up Tyler’s neck. 

Tyler gasps when Jamie’s hands drop to his ass, feels Jamie’s big hands cup it and draw him closer. “Want to taste you,” Jamie murmurs. “Want to kiss every bit of you.” 

And that. That’s—Tyler wants that. He wants Jamie to bring him to his bedroom and take his time. It’s somewhat of a novelty to Tyler, who has always been of the opinion that every orgasm, no matter how subpar or hasty, is a good orgasm. He doesn’t see the appeal of taking time to get there, doesn’t really cared about the journey.

That’s not to say it’s never happened. There have been several men and women, whohave stuck around a little longer than the initial fuck, that have made Tyler want to see what really gets them going, what makes them feel good. There have been a few now, and Jamie’s absolutely being added to the ranks. It’s a good thing, Tyler thinks, that they’re going to be spending so much time together. It’s especially good if even just making out with Jamie feels like this. . 

“Take me to bed,” Tyler whispers. “Please.”

Tyler should have expected it. He’s seen Jamie naked before, and even though it had been through a haze of alcohol, he remembers taking note of how strong Jamie was, how big, but he’s still taken by surprise when Jamie lifts him up from the couch and starts stumbling down the hallway, still holding Tyler up.

Instead of tossing him on the bed like Tyler expects, Jamie sets him down gently, leans in for another sweet kiss before pulling back and stripping his shirt off. Tyler makes it very obvious that he’s looking, makes sure to reach down and adjust his dick and accompany the action with a smirk to show that he’s interested. 

“How do you want this?” Jamie asks him. “Like, how do you want me?”

“In me, but there’s no rush to get there,” Tyler tells him, thoroughly surprising himself at the suggestion. He’d thought that this pause would make him want it more, would make him want to get right to it, but he finds himself wanting to see what taking it slow will be like with Jamie. With them being in such close quarters, Tyler is sure that this is just the first time of many. 

“Take your shirt off,” Jamie urges him as he undoes his jeans. “I wanna see you.” 

Even the things Jamie is saying are making a warm tendril uncurl in Tyler’s chest. Jamie’s not asking him to get naked, not making mention of Tyler’s body. He’s asking to see _Tyler_ and it feels bigger than just sex. Tyler’s already so far gone on Jamie, and this is just making it worse. There’s a reason he’d told Jamie that he was the one that needed to keep his emotions in check, and it’s because Tyler is literally incapable of doing so. 

He sits up and tugs his shirt off, tossing it aside, gets as far as unbuckling his belt and unzipping before Jamie is back, body hovering over Tyler, leaning in for more kissing. Tyler immediately gets his hands back in Jamie’s hair, pulling him closer, kissing him deeper, but Jamie has other ideas. He’s drawing his hand down the centre of Tyler’s stomach, dipping his fingers beneath the band of his underwear, teasing. The quick brush of Jamie’s calloused fingertips sets Tyler on _fire_. He lets out a low moan, sounds like he says ‘please’ somewhere in there, begging for more attention. Jamie’s already worked him up so much that now, now he just wants to feel _more_ of this. It’s so—it’s nothing like Tyler had been expecting. How had Jamie gotten so good at sex?

“Shh,” Jamie whispers, “I got you.” 

Tyler shimmies the rest of the way out of his jeans and underwear with Jamie’s help, then reaches for Jamie’s briefs as well. Now they’re both naked, and Tyler is sure that they’re going to get to the point, that Jamie will reach for the lube and condoms, that he’ll get Tyler ready, and that will be that. 

That’s not what happens. 

Instead of doing anything that Tyler had been expecting, Jamie settles himself between Tyler’s thighs, forcing him to spread them wide to accommodate Jamie’s muscular legs. Then Jamie draws his fingers down Tyler’s cheek and leans in for another kiss. Tyler doesn’t even know what to do with this, aside from pulling Jamie in and making sure he knows what Tyler wants, which is to _get off_. He wraps his legs around Jamie’s waist, uses the momentum to grind against him. 

Tyler knows that he’s probably leaking precome everywhere, but that’s fine, it just makes the slide easier. He’s starting to think that this is how he’s going to get off, because he _is_ going to get off, but then Jamie’s pulling back, chuckling, and telling Tyler, “Don’t worry, we’ll get there,” and that. Fuck that. Tyler wants to get off _now_ but Jamie is pulling away and wait. What? Why is Jamie pulling away?

“No,” Tyler whines, “come back.”

Jamie is sliding out of his grasp, sitting back on his knees and letting his gaze roam over Tyler’s body. “I told you, I want to kiss all of you,” Jamie tells him. “Is that—can I?”

“Jamie Benn, I want to fucking get off,” Tyler whines, “but you make a good argument.”

“I didn’t—”

“Come on, have at it,” Tyler tells him, spreading himself out in the most sexy way he knows how. He bends one of his knees and brings one arm up to pillow his head against it. He brings the other down to pull at his cock because he’s so fucking hard and he needs at least a little relief, especially with Jamie here looking like he wants to eat him. 

“Ty—” Jamie breathes before drawing his hands up Tyler’s thighs. “Fuck, you’re so hot,” he says as he leans in to press a kiss to the inside of Tyler’s knee. “Just, so hot.”

Jamie trails his lips up Tyler’s thighs, littering sweet, innocent pecks of his lips over his thigh. Tyler tangles his fingers in Jamie’s hair once more, and just lets himself float in the feeling of Jamie’s lips on his body.

Tyler falls into a haze of pleasure as he lets Jamie essentially do whatever he wants. He thinks he can hear himself gasping, thinks that he can hear Jamie’s soft words of encouragement, but he’s lost in this feeling, in the absolute best way possible. He feels Jamie’s lips on his skin, feels Jamie’s strong arms sneak beneath him just to hold him, and for once, the climax of all of this is so far away from his mind that he’s barely even thinking about it. 

He’s so blissed out that he barely recognizes the sound of the cap of lube opening, just spreads his legs and shifts upward so that Jamie has enough access to get him ready. “Ty,” he hears, but it’s far away, he’s still in so deep. “Ty? Are you with me?” Jamie asks, breaking through a little. 

“What?” Tyler asks. “Why did you stop?” He’s breathless, his voice fucked from the noises he’d been making before. “Jamie?” 

“Are you with me?” Jamie repeats, and Tyler blinks as he comes into focus. 

“Yeah, fuck yeah, Jamie Benn, let’s do this thing.”

Jamie grins at him and nods, and then he’s pressing slicked up fingers against Tyler’s entrance, and Tyler lets himself fall back into the haze again. He spreads his legs for Jamie when he hears the condom wrapper, snakes his arms around Jamie’s shoulders and meets Jamie’s eyes as he slides in. They stay like that for a suspended moment, just holding each other, breathing the same air, and letting Tyler get used to the frankly massive dick that’s now inside of him, before Jamie slowly starts to roll his hips. 

If Tyler had thought that they would finally start racing to the finish line once Jamie was inside of him, which he _had_, he’d have been dead wrong. Jamie starts out slow, just small shifts of his hips, seemingly making room for himself inside Tyler’s tight ass. Jamie’s moved so that his hands are under Tyler, holding him close as he presses soft kisses against his lips, his jaw, and his cheeks, sending tiny sparks of pleasure all over Tyler’s body with every touch. 

Tyler’s a mess now, and he knows it. He’s moaning, pleading, gasping little _oh, oh, ohs_ in response to Jamie’s every movement. His dick is forgotten between them, and Tyler is pretty sure that it doesn’t even matter anymore, because when Jamie starts pulling back, circling his hips and really fucking into him, Tyler is pretty sure he’s going to be able to come without even touching it, and isn’t that a fucking trip?

He’s also positive that at the end of this, Jamie’s back is going to be a canvass of finger shaped bruises because Tyler simply cannot control himself at this point in time. He’s too— he doesn’t even know. What he does know is that Jamie is a fucking wizard and he’s so close to just letting go that he can’t believe it hasn’t happened yet. 

When it does happen, it’s all at once. Tyler had been riding a high of until suddenly he was boiling over, spilling between them almost immediately after frantically getting his hand between their bodies. It hits him like a tidal wave, and for a long moment, Tyler is out to sea, letting the waves of pleasure wash over him. When the haze starts to clear, it’s just as he feels Jamie stiffen up above him, feels him jerk inside of him and then go limp. 

Tyler takes a minute or two to just hold Jamie there, to card his fingers through Jamie’s hair before he feels Jamie shift. 

“That was—”

And Tyler, he doesn’t even know what that was, and he’s not sure that he ever will. Instead, he says, “Holy fuck Jamie,” so very eloquently, and lets himself collapse further against the pillows. “Where—how? What the fuck?”

“Uh… Molly was a really good teacher,” Jamie admits. He’s still flushed from their activities, so Tyler can’t tell if he’s blushing. 

“I think I’m gonna send him a thank you card, and like, thirty bottles of tequila.”

“He prefers gin,” Jamie replies, laughing. When he stops, he’s looking at Tyler again, eyes warm with fondness, and Tyler has to kiss him. Jamie joins in, but they keep it slow, sliding their mouths against each other softly. 

When they pull away, Jamie is still looking at him. 

“Want to shower?” Tyler asks.

“Yeah, but like, I don’t think I’ve got any gas left in the tank.”

“Dude, you literally fucked my brain out. We’re gonna shower so we don’t get gross, and then we’re gonna fucking cuddle. And then maybe we can fuck again in the morning. But first, cuddling, deal?”

“Yeah, that’s—that sounds good.” 

And that’s exactly what happens.


	4. Anxiety, Anxiety, You Give me no Mercy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title from _Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart_ by Against Me!

For Jamie, the next day is a blur, which could be from the fantastic blowjob that Tyler had given him in the shower. Jamie is still reeling when Roope shows up, but that just means that he basically does anything Roope asks without question. He’s carted around Toronto, getting his hair cut and styled, figuring out a new wardrobe, being introduced to all kinds of people that are associated with the band, and then finally being returned to Tyler’s condo. Tyler still hasn’t returned from whatever he’d left to do, so Jamie spends some time with the dogs, but then gets down to business with learning some more songs and deciding which would be best to release acoustically out of the options he’d been given from Bish.

He’s just finishing up eating a sandwich when Tyler bursts through the door with the rest of the band in tow. “Ready to make some music?” He asks excitedly. 

“Fuck yes,” Jamie replies. This is the most exciting thing he’s gotten to do all day. He’s heading to the recording studio when Tyler catches him by his bicep.

“Holy shit Benny, you were hot before but now…” Jamie watches as Tyler bites his lip suggestively and flushes. Jamie watches him run his eyes over his body. “How am I ever supposed to keep my hands to myself? Fuck, Jamie.”

“I mean… you don’t have to?” Jamie offers with a shrug. “I’m not really complaining about having your hands on me.” 

“You can’t fucking say things like that when we’ve got shit to do, Jameson. Say them to me later, when you’re in my bed.” 

“I will, I promise,” Jamie tells him, grinning. Tyler ushers him into the room after that, saying something about not being able to stop himself unless they start working right the fuck now. And they do work. It takes quite a few tries to get the song the way Tyler wants it, and then a few more for Jamie to be satisfied with the way his voice sounds on the track. Once it’s finished though, Jamie has a sense of satisfaction, like this whole thing really is going to work out, and he feels really good about it. 

Bish sends the track to one of the guys, Esa, Jamie thinks he heard, that regularly does their mixing to clean it up, and then turns the band loose to do whatever they want. That turns out to be videogames and and a couple beers before the other guys head home. Jamie helps Tyler clean up what little mess there is and then the two of them retire to Tyler’s bedroom, where Jamie proceeds to let Tyler put his hands all over him. He honestly doesn’t think that he’s had this much sex in his life, but it’s really great. Tyler is hot as all hell, responsive, and incredibly generous in bed. They’d promised each other that this was just casual, that no feelings could be involved, but Jamie is really starting to think that he never wants this to end. It’s a dangerous thought with everything they have on the line. 

The next day is more of the same, except this time the whole band is there and they’re doing promotional shots. Jamie is the singer, so they have him up front with Tyler, with both of them looking very serious. They take so many photos, and have so many clothing changes that by the time they finish, Jamie is exhausted. They leave with the confirmation that there will be a couple promo photos ready for the next day, so that they can launch the song and announce Jamie as being in the band. It’s all happening so fast, and Jamie feels like he’s barely had a chance to breathe. He slumps in the car on their way back to Tyler’s condo, and gratefully agrees to getting take out once they settle in. 

When they get in, Tyler seems pretty tired as well. He orders them a couple pizzas and then they both collapse on the couch. They’re getting a copy of the song at some point tonight to listen to it before its release, but for now, they have absolutely nothing to do and it’s wondrous. Tyler sort of flops all over Jamie, and Jamie just accepts his fate and squeezes Tyler’s arm before checking a few things on his phone. 

Eventually, once the pizza arrives, Tyler turns the tv on and switches it to the game. Jamie watches casually, but he’s mostly eating and catching up with his family and friends back home. He hasn’t even really gotten the chance to see them after finishing school because he’d come directly to Toronto. He knows his parents understand—this is the opportunity of a lifetime—but he still misses them a lot. They’re planning to meet up with him at some point on the upcoming tour, but that won’t be until they get closer to the west coast. Thinking about his family makes thinking about the tour more. He’s been so busy that he hasn’t even had the chance to think about it, and he has some questions.

“Hey Ty, tell me about touring,” he says, jumping right to the point.

“Dude, it’s so fucking dope. Like, you’re surrounded by all your best friends for a couple months straight, and you get to play music every single night. It’s like, it’s the best thing. There are bus parties, van parties, fuckin’ parking lot parties, and you get to meet so many rad people. And the bands we’ve got on the roster are sick, dude. Have you heard of _Sin Bin_ and _The Sycamore Syndicate_?”

Jamie shakes his head. What the fuck is a _Sycamore Syndicate_ anyway? He hasn’t really ever listened to this genre, preferring classic rock, country and show tunes, so he doesn’t know what to expect. The only reason he’d ever heard _Dirty Dangles_ is because Jordie likes them so much. “Play some for me?” 

Neither of them are really watching the game anyway, since neither the Leafs nor the Canucks are playing. Tyler eagerly sits up and switches over to Youtube. He searches for the first one and gushes, “So these guys are opening the whole show. They’re pretty new, but they’re still so fucking good already. Like, listen to this bass line.”

Jamie sits back and listens to the song; it’s pretty good, really poppy for not actually being pop, and they’re all pretty goofy and cute throughout the entire music video. It looks like the guitarist takes himself a little too seriously, but also like he’s still having fun. Jamie isn’t sure that he can remain that stoic while performing; he’d had a hard enough time doing it while they were at the photoshoot earlier.

“What are their names? I’m gonna need to know,” Jamie questions.

“Shit yeah, okay, the singer is Mitch Marner. He joined the band last, but he really makes them great. On guitar you have Auston Matthews, bassist is Willy Nylander and Kasperi Kappanen on drums. Rumour has it that Mitch joined the band because his own band broke up while they were touring with _The Sycamore Syndicate_. Apparently, Mitch’s boyfriend left him for another member of the band, but I don’t have this information first hand. It sounds like a fucking mess though, and not to be a huge fucking gossip, but I’m pretty sure Auston has like, a giant-ass crush on Mitch. I’m gonna investigate when we hit the road.”

They listen to a few more songs by the band and Jamie thinks that maybe he could actually get into this stuff. It’s not bad, he’s just never really been exposed to it. 

Tyler switches bands then, says, “These guys are on second. They have a hockey name too! _Sin Bin_ which I think is hilarious. Here you have Brian Dumoulin on vocals and bass, Justin Schultz on vocals and guitar, and Olli Maatta on drums. Rumour has it that these guys have just like, one giant bedroom in the back of their bus and they all share, and that they’re all together, together. But that aside, they’re so fucking fun.” 

Jamie notices that this band is a lot less poppy, but just as goofy as the first one, The two vocalists share the spotlight even more than he and Tyler are going to, but it really seems to work for them. Again, Jamie finds himself enjoying the music, and he looks forward to meeting them.

“Anyone else?” He asks after the third or fourth video ends. 

“Nah, we like to open up the first spot to local bands, have them get a taste of what it’s like, you know? A lot of guys get discovered that way, and if we can help, we’re damn well gonna.” He reaches for another slice of pizza and takes a bite of it. “We were talking about having a co-headlining tour with _Magic Down Low_ but it’s still in the planning stages.”

“No shit? I actually know them,” Jamie replies. 

“Of fucking course you do. They’re fucking huge, and so good! I’m gonna die if we end up being able to tour with them. Grew up listening to that shit, you know?”

“No, I mean I actually know them. I did like a short internship, basically helped them set up for a festival and spent a few days shadowing them in the studio. Sid still texts, asking how everything’s going.”

“What the fuck.” 

“What? They’re cool guys.” Jamie’s met quite a few artists through his program, so this shouldn’t be surprising. The experience he’d gained working with MDL had been incredible and formative for him as a musician. 

“You know Sidney fucking Crosby, that’s what,” Tyler responds. “Seriously, I’ve barely met the guy, and I’ve been in this industry for almost ten years now.”

Jamie just shrugs. “The program I was in gives us the opportunity to really work with artists in order to learn how shit actually works. I did some mixing on a song for them, helped them unload some shit and tuned a couple guitars. I met with Sid during the recording session because he’s really particular, and I needed to know exactly what he wanted, you know? It’s really not a big deal, one of my classmates got to work with Lady Gaga, and another one with fucking Ed Sheeran.” 

“You don’t understand. _Magic Down Low_ is my fucking favourite band. They’re like, who I wanted to be when I first started a band. I won a fucking Battle of the Bands with one of their songs. Fuck Jamie, you’re so fucking cool.”

“I’m not.”

“You fucking are, and you’re hot, and you’re good at sex, and you can fucking sing. You’re the whole damn package.” Jamie flushes as Tyler looks him up and down. “Seriously, we’re lucky we found you.” 

He doesn’t need to respond because with perfect timing, both of their phones ding announcing the arrival of the song they’d recorded the day before. The message from Esa reads _yo, here it is. This is sick as fuck, guys, hope you like it! Lemme know when you’ve got the next one done_.

Jamie feels a wave of nervousness wash over him. He knows what his voice sounds like on a recording, but he’s never had to measure up to another singer. It’s a whole level of pressure that he hadn’t been expecting when he started his music career and he’s not sure how this will turn out. 

Tyler’s phone is already synced up to the tv, so Jamie just nods when he arches his eyebrow. Even though he’s nervous, he thinks it’s better to get this over with. If it’s terrible, _Dirty Dangles_ can find someone new and no one but Jordie and Jamie’s family will have to know that he was ever going to be part of this band. If it’s bad, he can just hop the next plane to Victoria and never look back. 

Jamie is so busy making an escape plan that he doesn’t stop to think about what he’s going to do if the song is good. And it is. It’s really fucking good. The way he and Tyler sound playing together is natural and unrehearsed, and the way his voice sounds in the opening bars is nothing short of magical. His tone is true, voice smooth like slicing through butter with a hot knife. He’d been afraid that he would be pitchy since he’d practiced it so much before recording but it’s not, not at all. Jamie exhales the breath he’d been holding in and chances a glance at Tyler. Just because Jamie thinks it sounds good doesn’t mean he’s in the clear; the final decision rests on the guy sitting next to him. 

But Tyler’s face is rapt with wonder, to the point that his mouth is slightly open with shock. He’s not looking back. Tyler is more still than Jamie can ever recall seeing him, eyes lidded and breathing deep like he's meditating. He stays like that until the last note fades out and then seems to snap out of it, turning to Jamie with a look of amazement. He notices that it takes a second for Tyler to come back to him, but once he does, his eyes are shining bright. “Holy fucking shit, Jamie Benn. We’re gonna fucking take over the world together.” He cues up the song again, and they listen to it all the way through. “We’re never letting you go, dude.”

And that. That’s something that Jamie can get on board with. 

-

Their social media rep, Miro, releases the song along with some of the shots they’d done the day before. None of them even get the chance to look at the comments because as soon as they get up, get caffeinated, and have breakfast, Tyler and Jamie are joining the other guys at their rehearsal space. Big Rig looks half asleep when they arrive, nursing a coffee the size of his head. He nods toward them and they all just sit quietly to finish their own coffees until Klinger shows up. 

After that, it’s down to business. 

Thankfully, Jamie doesn’t have to learn the band’s entire catalogue all at once. They have a specific set list that they’re planning to play on tour, including some of the songs that Jamie’s already taught himself. The first few hours are kind of a disaster, since Jamie doesn’t know anything, but once he starts learning the lyrics, starts really getting to sing the songs instead of just humming along, it gets better. By the end of the day, he’s got five of the songs down, and they have plans to rehearse again tomorrow. Jamie needs to know these songs before the tour starts, and he needs to know them flawlessly, so the more rehearsing they do, the better off he’ll be.

They all pile together in Tyler’s jeep and head out for some food afterward. It’s good that they’re already hanging out so much, getting to know each other, because they’re going to be around each other pretty exclusively in a few weeks. They split a couple pitchers of beer and get some appetizers first, and Jamie makes sure not to sit next to Tyler, since he thinks that they’ve been getting to know each other pretty well already. Now he needs to make friends with the rest of the band, so he seats himself between Rig and Klinger. It’s not a normal feeling for Jamie, but being next to Rig makes him feel small. Jamie himself is over six feet but Rig must be closer to seven, and he’s pretty built at that.

“So, uh, you guys are all pretty fit. How do you get work outs in on the road?” He asks.

“Bish came up with our routine,” Klinger tells him. “We work out pretty much every morning, at least stretching and shit.”

“Every other day, we do lifting though. We bring weights with us and use those. And then some days we do stairs at the arenas, or we go for individual runs. That’s been harder since our album went double platinum, because more people recognize us,” Rig adds.

“Speaking of,” Tyler interrupts them. “Miro sent me an email about how the song is doing. Wanna hear it?”

“Only if it’s fucking good news,” Jamie replies. He doesn’t think he can handle hearing about their fans hating it or something. He knows it won’t all be good, but he’s hoping to at least break even on the positive and negatives. 

“Well, it’s not bad,” Tyler replies, grinning. “Some people are still unsure, but that’s to be expected. Our fans loved Spezz. But, he shared the song on insta and twitter, let people know that he was part of the process in picking you, and that seems to be going really well. Mostly, people want to hear more, and won’t make their decision until they see us on the road, or until we release some more music. Some people really fucking love it though, and like, everyone is talking about how hot fucking you are.”

“They’re literally saying that you’re Tyler’s new boyfriend,” Bish tells them as he slides into the booth. “Hey boys, just dropping by to give you the good news myself, but it seems like you’ve already gotten there.”

“I’m not Tyler’s new boyfriend,” Jamie states before taking a long drink of beer. He’s pretty sure he actually wouldn’t mind that, but those are dangerous thoughts that he doesn’t want to touch. They’d said casual, and Jamie wants to keep having sex with Tyler, so he’s just not going to think about how every time Tyler smiles at him, his palms get sweaty and his heart beats a little faster. 

“Hey man, I saw those fucking marks on Tyler’s hips earlier. I won’t believe you if you try to tell me that you didn’t leave them there,” Rig responds, arching a brow at them.

“We’re just fucking,” Tyler explains. “No feelings, just dick. And like, Jamie’s a fucking big boy.” 

“Jesus, Seggy,” Bish sighs, “please keep it to yourself.” 

“Yes, please. Fuck, I’m so glad that I don’t share a bus with you,” Klinger sighs. 

“Wait, what?” Jamie asks. He’d just assumed that they would all be sharing together, stuck in close quarters, spending so much time together that they wanted to kill each other by the end of everything. “How are you not sharing a bus with him?”

“Oh yeah! So we have two busses,” Tyler tells him. “I used to share with Spezz, because he was the only one that could deal with me long term. We have some crew guys on our bus too, but Rig, Klinger and Bish are on the other one.”

“Tell him about the other reason that no one wants to share with you,” Bish says. “He should know. He might wanna switch over.” 

Jamie can’t think of any reason that he wouldn’t want to spend as much time as possible with Tyler while they’re touring but maybe this is something that he should know. “Okay, lay it on me,” he says. 

“Uh… I hook up,” Tyler tells him. “Like, a lot. Like, basically after every show. Some of them are loud too, I guess? Spezz always thought it was hilarious, like, he’d throw condoms at me when I came on board, but these guys over here don’t wanna hear it.”

“But it’s fine for you, since you’re the one Tyler is gonna be hooking up with,” Rig adds. “So it works out, and you get to share with him.”

“We’re just casual,” Tyler insists. “Did you not hear me before? I could still hook up with other people.”

“But will you when you’ve got dick on tap?” Klinger insists. 

Jamie feels himself grow more and more red over the course of the conversation. “Tyler can hook up with whoever he wants,” Jamie states. “And if that’s me, cool, if it’s not, that’s cool too. We’re just casual.”

“Not according to the internet. They’re already planning the wedding.” 

That changes the subject back to their song and Jamie is eager for a different subject. He doesn’t know what Tyler’s plans are when it comes to hooking up, but he doesn’t really want to think about it until he has to. Things are good right now, and he doesn’t want to fuck them up by getting jealous. “So it’s really doing okay? The fans like it?”

“It’s been pretty positive. What do you guys think about recording another one? Just to lead up to the tour. I was also thinking of maybe doing some softball shows? Really exclusive ones, about a hundred people, so Jamie can get used to performing.” 

“That’s uh- that’s a really good idea,” Jamie agrees. “I’ve done some portfolio stuff live, but I don’t really have much experience with it. I’m more comfortable in the studio, honestly.” He doesn’t mention to practically debilitating stage fright he gets in front of a crowd. He hadn’t really thought of that side of things, actually. He’d been so caught up in actually making music with these talented guys that he hadn’t thought of the realities of actually being on stage. 

“I’ll set the shows up then,” Bish tells them, settling it. “Won’t be until late next week though. We need to give Jamie the chance to actually know what he’s doing.” 

-

They record another song, and rehearse. Tyler does some filming for his instagram story, and it blows up. They release the second song a couple days after the first, and it’s met with the same reaction. So far, things are going as well as can be expected. 

About a week and a half before the tour, Bish crashes their rehearsal and tells them that he booked them a show the next night. It’s at one of the venues that they apparently used to play at in Toronto, when they were first starting out. It’s just a small place, and it’s going to be announced to the public about an hour before they’re supposed to hit the stage. That way, it can be first come, first serve, and can be limited to a crowd of three hundred. Three hundred is still a lot of people for Jamie to be in front of, and he’s already starting to get nervous, which doesn’t really bode well for doing a stadium tour. He tries not to think about it for the rest of the rehearsal, but even once they get back to Tyler’s, the anxiety doesn’t give him any mercy.


	5. Just Like Kisses on the Necks of “Best Friends”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title from _I’ve got a Dark Alley and a Bad Idea that says that You Should Shut Your Mouth (Summer Song)_ by Fall Out Boy
> 
> The Sycamore Song that TSS performs is from a tumblr post that I can’t find at the moment. If you have a link, please drop it in the comments!

Tyler has only known Jamie for a short period of time, but he’s been around him enough to know that Jamie is freaking out about the live show coming up. Tyler knows that there’s no reason for it; Jamie is really good, and the insta story that he’d posted from a rehearsal last week had blown the fuck up, which only served to prove it. They’ve been so busy that they’ve barely had enough time to relax, which is probably making it worse. 

So that’s why Tyler has decided that he’s going to do something about it. After they finish up rehearsal, he corners Jamie and says, “we’re going out tonight,” in a tone that doesn’t allow for disagreement. “You look like you’ve never had fun in your life right now, and I need to fucking do something about it. Being in a band is the funnest thing ever, and you look like you just wanna drop dead.” 

“Ty, I don’t—”

“I’m not taking no for an answer, I’ll even let you choose the type of thing you want to do. You want a club? Let’s go. Strippers? Fuck yeah boy. Drag queens? Can’t say I’ve never spent at night at _Crews and Tangos_ before. So, whatever you want, but we’re doing it.”

“Okay, but nothing fancy. What about karaoke? Then I can listen to other people sing for once,” Jamie replies. “And like, after dinner. I wanna go home and take a nap.”

Tyler needs to ignore how warm he feels just because Jamie called his condo home. He’s already jumped in with both feet, but he’s been trying to hide it. It’s not uncommon for Tyler to fall head over heels for someone even if they’ve only spent a few weeks together, so he just tends to ignore it now. “Okay, food first, then we’re gonna hit the town, Seggy style.” 

Jamie has this look that makes Tyler think that he doesn’t know what that means and also that he never wants to find out. Tyler fully intends to pull out all the stops for him tonight.

“Who’s in?” He calls out to the rest of the guys. 

“I have a date tonight,” Rig replies.

“Lame,” Tyler dismisses. “Klinger? You wanna come?” 

“Nah, you two have fun though. I’m gonna get all the sleep I can before he hit the road.” 

Tyler just shrugs. “Alright then. Benny, it’s just you and me. Let’s go get some food.”

Jamie continues to be quiet through dinner, and it’s not until Tyler pulls out some bud and his vaporizer that he brightens a little. “If you think I’m going to karaoke without getting a little buzzed first…” 

“Dude, I was hoping…”

Tyler cocks his head to the side a little. “All you gotta do is ask, bro. I’m always packing, you just have to ask, okay?” 

The relief that crosses Jamie’s face is a bit of a surprise. He would have expected Jamie to mention something if he wanted to smoke, but Jamie hadn’t said anything. He knows that Jamie doesn’t like cigarettes, unlike Tyler, but it seems like he’s been depriving himself of other smokeable pleasures.

“I just—everything is so new with all the band stuff, and the singing and like, fuck. I really wanna get high right now. I think—I’m kinda freaking out about the show.” 

“Dude, I know. That’s why we’re going out. Fucking the nerves out of you wasn’t working, so I was gonna get you drunk so you could forget about it for a bit. If I’d known…”

“It’s fine, just give me the fucking weed.”

Tyler laughs and hands it over, watches as Jamie takes a hit. He moves closer so that he can rub his hands over Jamie’s shoulders to further help him to relax. He doesn’t think he’s going to get used to how hot Jamie is, even when he’s just casually sitting with Tyler on the couch and smoking up. He’s just so big, and solid, and exactly Tyler’s type when it comes to guys. It helps that he fucks like a dream, too, but that’s just a bonus. Jamie is everything Tyler’s ever wanted, and the idea that he might like Tyler just as much is a dangerous one. 

They pass the weed back and forth while watching Sportsnet, and eventually they order some food. It’s still pretty early in the evening, and they won’t be heading out until after ten. It’s nice to see Jamie relaxing a little bit, even though he still seems to be carrying some of the stress with him. They spend the evening vegging, and eventually Tyler gets them each some beer. He doesn’t think they’ll get trashed tonight because they have rehearsal all day tomorrow, but he really wants to get Jamie to loosen up more. 

It’s been nice, having someone staying with him. Usually, Tyler has guys and girls at his place for a couple hours at most, and Jamie’s been here for a couple weeks now. Sometimes his sisters stay for a couple days too, but no one has been here long term. Jamie looks so at home, with Gerry cuddled up against his side and Marshall lying at his feet. He looks like he belongs here, and that’s… that’s different than anyone else Tyler has ever been with.

They’re not dating or even considering it, and maybe that’s the reason it’s different. He and Jamie are becoming friends. It’s really nice. The more that Tyler gets to know Jamie, the more that he wants to be around him. Jamie’s just—he’s really great. Tyler is so glad that they’d found each other that night. 

Tyler reaches for the last slice of pizza just as Jamie does the same thing. They both laugh, and Tyler says, “You go ahead.” 

“No, it’s fine,” Jamie replies. “It was just sitting there, like, lonely and shit.”

Tyler chuckles and shakes his head. He takes the slice and splits it in half, passes one piece to Jamie and settles in to eat his own. “Compromise,” he says. 

Jamie smiles at him softly and shakes his head. “I guess so,” he says before digging in. Afterward, Jamie pulls Tyler against his side and lets Tyler snuggle in. “Thanks. This is helping,” he says. 

“Yeah?” Tyler asks. “What’s going on? I wanna help.”

“You have been, there’s just—I’m—stage fright?” He offers. “Like, I used to have to do performances for my program, but like, it was only in front of maybe fifty people that I knew really well. Even then, I really had to psych myself up for it, you know? Like, sometimes I’d have to smoke before even getting on stage, and like, it fucked with my voice, so I stopped but it’s just really hard for me.” 

“And three hundred is a lot,” Tyler finished. “Yeah, okay. What can I do to help?” He doesn’t want Jamie to freak out about the best part of being in a band. He wants Jamie to feel comfortable with the other guys, with him, and with the fans. “Like, it’s gonna be scary. I was fucking scared shitless beforehand, but then I took like, three shots of tequila and was fine. Do you need tequila?” 

“I don’t think that would help. I’d probably fucking barf or something,” Jamie admits. “And like, this shit matters now. I need to be good at the stage stuff, you know?” 

Tyler squeezes Jamie’s bicep, cops a bit of a feel at the same because Jamie’s fucking arms are unreal, and says, “I’ve been with you this whole time Jamie. I’ve seen you at rehearsal, and I’ve seen you in the studio. You’re amazing. You’re so fucking good. And you’ve got the look, and the moves, and I think that once you get used to being on stage, you’re gonna be fucking top shelf. I know this is all really fucking sudden, and you’ve barely even gotten the chance to breathe since we met, and dude, you’re dealing with this really fucking well,” He takes a breath and makes sure that Jamie is meeting his eyes when he says, “I believe in you. I believe in you so fucking much. You have to believe me, and when you’re freaking out, or nervous, or like, whatever is happening to you before a show, remember that. Remember that I think you can do this, and that I think you are gonna be fucking incredible.” 

Tyler presses his hand gently against Jamie’s cheek, just to have that line of connection between them, and he smiles when Jamie leans into it. “Shit, that was deep and cute.”

Jamie bursts into laughter at that, and Tyler watches as he almost falls over because of the force of it. Tyler actually has to hold onto him to make sure he stays on the couch. “Way to ruin a moment, Ty,” he teases. 

“It’s my specialty,” Tyler responds with an easy grin. “But seriously, I really think that we can do this, and just like, if you ever get caught up in your head, just look at me. I don’t give a fuck if we’re in the middle of a song. Look at me, and we’ll get you through it.” 

“Thanks,” Jamie says earnestly. “Even just talking about it is helping.”

“Will it help if we do a song together at karaoke?” Tyler presses, waggling his eyebrows. “Something like Rhianna, or the Spice Girls?”

“Are those your go-tos?” Jamie asks him. He’s smiling now, looking more relaxed than he has since Bish had approached them about doing the shows next week.

“Obviously. What are yours?” Tyler asks him. With Jamie’s repertoire, he must do something really intense. 

“Show tunes usually,” he admits, “oldies sometimes. I don’t usually do anything too contemporary.” 

“We’ll figure something out,” Tyler assures him. “Shots before we go?”

“Yeah, let’s do that.” 

-

They pause outside the venue so that Tyler can smoke a cigarette. He leans against the brick wall and watches Jamie as he watches the other people making their way inside. He looks good, dressed in some dark wash skinny jeans and a loose fitting shirt. He’s wearing a backwards ballcap with his hair peeking out at the back. The best part about it is that he doesn’t have that stiff stressed out demeanour anymore. He looks relaxed, looks like he’s ready for a night of fun, and Tyler is so happy that he was able to provide that for him. 

When he finishes the last drag, Tyler nudges Jamie and they head inside together. Upon entering the bar, Tyler hears some familiar voices ringing out through the speakers. He chances a glance toward the stage and breaks out laughing because right there is the entirety of _The Sycamore Syndicate_. They’re singing _That’s Amore_, butchering the lyrics seemingly on purpose, which is actually kind of hilarious. He laughs as he hears, “_when the moon hits your knees and you sing about trees, sycamore!_” He nudges Jamie to get him to look, and nods when Jamie asks if that’s one of the bands they’ll be touring with. 

Tyler urges Jamie to snag them a table and then heads to the bar to order them a tray of shots, and beers to go along with them. He makes sure to send a message to Mitch as he heads over to the table that Jamie chose, and then nudges him affectionately when he climbs into the booth. “Booze and TSS are on their way. What are the fucking chances, eh?” 

Jamie nods, “yeah, but it’s kind of cool right? Me being able to meet them outside of the tour?”

“Yeah man, it’s good. They’re good guys. A little rowdy but, what do you expect? They’re like, literal babies.”

Their drinks arrive before the other guys do, and Jamie snags his beer quickly. “So, I have a proposal for you,” Tyler states. “Maybe get us both out of our comfort zones, yeah?”

“If you’re asking if you can top me, just tell me when. I’m definitely into that,” Jamie responds absently. It’s true that Jamie’s been the one doing all the actual fucking so far, and this opens up so many more things for them to do in bed, but that’s not what Tyler was referring to at all.

“Dude, that’s like, yes, fucking please,” he says, “but I was gonna suggest that we choose each other’s songs. It might be fun.” 

“Oh, uh, yeah. That’s cool. I used to do that sometimes with my classmates,” Jamie tells him. “But like, I was also serious about the other thing.”

Tyler grins at him and leans over to squeeze his thigh. He might have leaned in for a steamy kiss too, but that’s when the boys show up.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Mitch asks as he knocks right into Tyler while getting into the booth. “What are you doing here?” 

“I’m taking Jamie out,” Tyler replies. “Thought that this might be a cool place to come. I didn’t realize that they were letting the likes of you assholes in,” he laughs. 

“Rude,” Willy replies. He’s sliding in next to Jamie and shooting him a sweet smile from under his lashes, and Tyler can already tell where Willy thinks this is going. Considering that he and Jamie are just casual, just buds who fuck, Willy might very well get his wish. Tyler finds that he would prefer Jamie to come home with him, though, and that’s a bit weird for him. Usually, he’d just move on and find someone else for the night.

“Put those eyes away, Nylander, we’re not here to hook up,” Kappy tells him as he gets into the booth beside him. “It’s band bonding night, no dick for either of us.” 

Tyler looks over and sees Jamie’s flush, adds, “yeah, and we’re also on a band date, so save it for the tour, bud.” 

“So you’re the new singer, then?” Willy asks, ignoring the rest of them. “I listened to the songs. Dude, you’re so good.” 

“Yeah, uh, it’s only been a couple weeks, but it seems like they wanna keep me around,” Jamie replies shyly. 

Tyler is having none of that shyness, though, because he knows how good Jamie it. He slings his arm over Jamie’s shoulder and squeezes him. “Jamie is the best. We love him,” he says. “We’re never gonna get rid of him.” 

“Are those for us?” Auston asks finally, motioning toward the tray of shots sitting on the table. “I’m Auston, by the way,” he adds, leaning forward to shake Jamie’s hands. 

“Oh yeah, introductions,” Tyler shrugs. “And yeah, I got us all shots and beers.” He quickly introduces Jamie to the other guys, and then says, “bottoms up,” before drinking his shot down and tapping the table twice with his empty shot glass afterward. 

After that, they all settle in to chatting. Tyler sneaks away to enter Jamie into the Karaoke cue, and he watches as Jamie does the same thing to him. The guys from TSS stick around for a while, but eventually they move on. Overall, it’s a good night of drinks, and an amazing performance of _Rude Boy_ by Rhianna by Jamie, which surprises everyone in the bar aside from Tyler. He’d known that Jamie was going to kill it. 

By the time they’re heading back to Tyler’s condo, they’re both a little tipsy, and they’re leaning against each other in the Uber. “Dude, you were so hot up there, doing Rhianna,” Tyler tells him. 

Jamie is flushed from the alcohol already, but somehow, his cheeks go even darker. “Thanks,” he says, “I mean, I’m still nervous as hell about doing shows, but that helped a little.”

“Jamie, Jamie, you have nothing to worry about. Even if I have to get you drunk before, or like, suck your dick, or whatever. I’ll get edibles. Anything you need,” Tyler tells him earnestly. 

“Thanks Ty,” Jamie replies. “It’ll probably be fine. I can do this.” 

“Atta boy,” Tyler replies. He climbs out of the Uber when they arrive, holds the door open for Jamie. 

They get into the elevator and Tyler watches as Jamie’s face goes white when it starts going up. Tyler wants to scream, because this has been a good night, he doesn’t need the fucking elevator and Jamie’s fear of heights ruining it. So he does what he does best, and moves in close to Jamie, says, “Just close your eyes, babe,” and leans in for a kiss. 

They end up so distracted pressed up against each other and licking into each other’s mouths, that they almost miss the door opening to admit them into the hallway. “Come on, I’ve got more than that for you in the bedroom,” Tyler tells him.

“Oh yeah?” Jamie asks. “Well, I’m not gonna say no to that.”

“Not even with Willy Nylander wanting to take you to bed?” Tyler teases. 

“Why would I want to go with him when it’s been your mouth I’ve been staring at all night?” Jamie replies. And Jesus, that’s smooth. Jamie’s got Tyler hook, line and sinker right now. He’s not sure he would even want to go home with anyone else when there’s still so much that he and Jamie haven’t gotten to do. 

“Jamie fucking Benn, you get into my bedroom, and get naked right the fuck now.” 

And he does.

-

They decide to cancel rehearsal the next day—and not because Tyler and Jamie are hungover. Bish suggests they record one more song to get the fans hyped up for their upcoming shows, one that they’ll play live, one that’s a fan favourite. They decide to use the song that Jamie auditioned with, since it’s one of Tyler’s favourites as well. 

Cancelling rehearsal means that they get to lounge around in bed longer than usual. Jamie tries to get up once, but Tyler drags him back down onto the soft mattress and convinces him to stay with kisses and soft touches. Usually, after spending this many weeks with someone, Tyler gets used to their hotness, gets used to seeing them, but every time he looks at Jamie, he’s always a little shocked at how good he looks, at how he gets dimples when he’s smiling or laughing. He’s always surprised when he sees Jamie in front of a microphone, always feels butterflies in his stomach, feels his heart beat faster when Jamie nails every note, every harmony. 

Jamie’s early morning kisses make Tyler want to melt into the mattress, make him never want to leave his room. After he gets Jamie off with his mouth, and after he gets Jamie’s slick hand on his cock, they take a shower together, and are just finishing up breakfast when Bish arrives.

“Hey bud,” Tyler says, letting him in. “What’s the plan?” He knows they’re recording and sending it off for mixing afterward, but Bish had insisted he be present for the recording this time. It’s probably a good thing, considering the way he and Jamie have been acting this morning. With Bish here, they’ll have to exercise at least some form of restraint. 

“I was gonna do a video for the band’s insta. I think the fans want to see you guys in action before we hit the road,” Bish replies. 

“It’ll be nice for the fans that don’t get into the smaller shows too,” Jamie adds from where he’s standing in front of the coffee maker. “And more intimate than the story Tyler posted last week from rehearsal. Just means that we’re gonna have to make Tyler look good, somehow,” he adds with a smirk.

Tyler looks over at him, shocked. “Excuse me? You weren’t complaining about my looks last night, or this morning,” he shoots back.

“Yeah, but I like you messy,” Jamie replies easily. He doesn’t even blush. Tyler must be rubbing off on him in more than one sense. 

“Okay, that’s enough. You have company present,” Bish complains. “Save it for when you’re alone.” 

“You don’t wanna know what we get up to when we’re alone,” Tyler teases. This time, he sees the blush colour Jamie’s cheeks and neck. Maybe he’s not completely used to Tyler after all. 

“You guys ready?” Bish asks. 

As it turns out, Jamie needs to warm up his vocal chords, so Tyler takes a moment to have a cigarette on the balcony. He’s not surprised when Bish joins him. “So, things are going well?” He asks. 

Tyler takes a slow drag and turns to face him. “Yeah, they’re great. Jamie’s amazing,” he praises. “He’s so good at everything we’ve thrown at him. And like, he’s dealing with it all like a fucking champ.” 

“Seems that way,” Bish replies. “He seems to be settling in really well.”

“I’m sensing a but,” Tyler prods. They only plausibly have ten minutes to speak privately while Tyler smokes, so Bish needs to get to the point already.

“No buts, I’m just making sure you’re both getting along.” 

“Oh, we are more than getting along,” Tyler says with a smirk. “It’s uh—it’s been really good, you know? He’s kind of perfect, and like, not just for the band, but in all the ways he can be. Except, apparently he gets really bad stage fright, so we’ve been finding him some ways to deal with it. Hopefully it won’t fuck anything up. Like, he’s so fucking good, he deserves to be on a stage.”

“Yeah, remember when you used to freak out about it?” Bish mentions. 

Tyler does, but he’d been sixteen and he’d never been on a stage before in his life. Like he’d told Jamie, he’d just done a couple tequila shots and then went up there and ripped his shirt off. He’d used the alcohol a few more times afterwards, but then realised that he didn’t need it anymore, because he loved being in front of a crowd. Seeing the faces of the fans light up when they played their favourite song, seeing them sing his words back to him, that got Tyler tipsy than any alcohol he’s ever tried. There’s this thing about being onstage that lets Tyler lose himself to the music, lose himself to the screaming fans, and he is here for it. He’s not sure that the same thing will happen to Jamie. Jamie doesn’t even really get the chance to start slow, because they’re jumping right into arenas and stadiums for this tour.

He laughs and nods, “I think it’s a bit worse for him.”

“I trust you to figure it out. He really seems to have taken a liking to you.”

“I like him a lot too. And like, dude, I already have four fucking new songs rattling around in my brain. I need some time to actually write them, though. We’ve been so busy…”

“You’ve got the rest of the day. Take some time with yourself.” 

“Jamie is so distracting though. God, have you looked at him?” Tyler whines. “How am I supposed to get anything done?”

“That’s a you problem,” Bish replies shrugging. “And I’m also pretty sure he’d be down if you said you wanted to make sweet, sweet music with him.”

“True,” Tyler agrees. He’s pretty much finished his smoke, so their time is up. “Alright boss, let’s get this bread.” 

-

Once they get into the studio, it’s pretty smooth sailing. Jamie is nothing if not a professional, and when he gets into music mode, he’s really something to be reckoned with. Nothing Tyler does distracts him from his task, not even taking his shirt off because he’s ‘too hot’. They practice the song a couple times before they start recording, and then it’s all good from there. It doesn’t take more than a couple hours before they’re sending it off. 

They each crack a beer afterward, Bish between Tyler and Jamie on the couch. Tyler has his arm stretched across the back of the couch, playfully tickling at Jamie’s shoulder as they watch the footage. 

As it turns out, he and Jamie look fucking baller making music together. They take cues from each other like it’s second nature. Tyler watches himself in the video, watches as he keeps throwing longing glances at Jamie, whose eyes are closed. It’s kind of surreal, seeing the look on his face as Jamie sings out _it’s love, it’s love make it hurt_ before Tyler chimes in with _I deserve it_. He’s never felt this way before, even though he’s in love all the time. He’s never felt his heart flutter in his chest from just a glance, and he’s never felt nervous that Jamie will want to call the whole thing quits before he does. He’s starting to think that he’ll never want that, that he’ll never find anyone else he wants to be in love with as much as he wants to be in love with Jamie. 

It’s at that moment that Tyler realises how absolutely fucking great this is. Jamie is so hot, and Tyler is so into him. There’s so much here for him to write about, that their next album is going to be fucking amazing. He’s already writing the lyrics in his head as the video comes to an end. 

“Looks good,” Jamie says. 

“Cool, I’ll just edit it a little and then upload some clips. The fans are going to go nuts over this, guys. Good job,” Bish tells them. “So, I’m gonna take off. Enjoy having some free time, boys.” 

Tyler walks Bish to the door and then sinks back down onto the couch with Jamie. “So, wanna make some music? Some guy said something about staring at my mouth last night and I’ve been dying to put those words into song.” 

Jamie chuckles as he turns red, says, “Let’s make some music,” before finishing off his beer.


	6. One Chance to Make This Happen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title from _Alone With You_ by In Her Own Words
> 
> Trigger Warning: One character has a panic attack in this chapter. It doesn’t last long and he works through it, but he does experience symptoms related to anxiety and panic attacks.

By the time the day of the show comes around, rehearsals are almost magical. It had taken a little bit for the four of them to really develop chemistry together, but now, now they seem to almost read each others’ minds while performing. Jamie is still nervous as all hell about performing in front of actual people, but at least he knows the words and the chords for the songs he’s going to be performing. Talking about it with Tyler helps, but the only thing that’s actually going to make it better is for them to actually get on stage and play some music. 

He’s fidgety the entire day of the show, and gets increasingly more nervous as the hours pass. Bish’s plan involves announcing it via social media less than an hour before they’re set to hit the stage so that the small clubs they’re playing aren’t overwhelmed with fans. They have three shows planned in the next week, each in places with increasingly more capacity around Toronto. Tonight’s will have three hundred, the one in two days, five, and they plan to be in front of a thousand people in five days time. Just thinking about it makes Jamie queasy. 

He notices Tyler doing his best to calm Jamie down, from the blowjob this morning to getting him high over lunch. It’s helping, of course, but Jamie just needs to get this over with. Not knowing what to expect is most of what’s worrying him right now. 

Tyler and Rig are sharing a joint in the green room ten minutes before they’re supposed to go live, and Jamie wishes that he could partake as well. He knows that it fucks with his voice though, and he wants to sound his absolute best tonight. Thankfully, for these smaller shows, the whole band is planning to appear together. For the larger ones, Jamie is supposed to be alone in the spotlight, singing softly until the rest of the guys back him up. Hopefully Jamie will be able to conquer his nerves enough to do that, when the time comes. Maybe he can convince them to blackout the stage first, so that he’s in the dark when they start up.

Five minutes out, Bish comes to get them and lines them up on the side of the stage. Jamie can hear the crowd from where he’s standing, can feel the anticipation thick in the air. He’s so nervous that his hands are shaking now, and he’s glad that he hasn’t been able to eat all day because his meals would be making a reappearance if he had. He’s startled when he feels something brush his hand, but he turns around and it’s just Tyler, guitar already strapped across his chest. “Jamie, look at me,” he says.

Jamie lets his gaze drift up from where Tyler has taken his hand to his face. “What?” He asks quietly, voice cracking with nerves. 

“You can fucking do this, okay dude? We all believe in you. They,” he says, motioning to the unseen crowd, “they believe in you too. We just gotta get out there and do this thing.” 

“Yeah, okay,” Jamie manages to choke out. “Okay,” he takes a deep breath, lets it out and nods at Tyler. It’s at that moment that the other two and Bish are adding their hands to Tyler’s and they’re doing some sort of ritual before heading out onstage. Jamie is freaking out too much to pay attention to it, but it seems like it’s some sort of tradition.

“It’s go time, boys,” Bish tells them. Tyler leads them onto the stage through the darkness. The plan is to start playing while the stage is still dark, and the lights will slowly come up, revealing them through a fog caused by a smoke machine backstage. Jamie hopes they keep it up once the tour starts too. Maybe he can turn his back to the crowd at first, let himself warm up to the idea that he’s in front of so many people. The effect will probably be pretty dope, Jamie must admit, but he’s still so nervous that he’s having trouble focusing on how cool this actually is.

He takes his spot in front of his microphone, settles his hands on his guitar to stop them from shaking, and waits for Tyler to start them up. His chest feels tight, he feels bile rising in his throat, and he takes some deep breaths to try to control his nervousness. He can’t stop his chest from hurting, so he does exactly what Tyler had told him to. 

He looks over at him, to find that Tyler’s already looking back. They lock eyes, and Jamie breathes out. Tyler seems to notice that he’s in bad shape, so he abandons his post and comes to stand in front of Jamie. “You can do this,” he assures him. Jamie feels his hands come up and cup his face. “You know these songs, you know your chords, and you know that I’m gonna be here for you no matter fucking what. You got this, Benny, you fucking got this. Tell me you got this.” 

The words are stuck in his throat, and he has to force himself to breathe again. Tyler is convinced that he can perform in front of all of these people, but Jamie isn’t so sure. He breathes in and out a few times, lets himself lean into Tyler’s touch, and finally nods. He doesn’t know how long it’s been, but he can hear the crowd beyond them, can hear the kick drum, and he knows that it’s now or never. He breathes in one last time and says, “I can do this. I fucking got this.”

He feels Tyler lean in and press their foreheads together, hears him say, “Yeah you fuckin’ do, bud,” before Tyler’s gone, headed back to his own spot on the stage. 

Jamie almost misses his cue like he had that first time, auditioning in front of Rig, Klinger, Bish and Spezz. He almost makes the same exact mistake, but he catches himself last minute. The first note isn’t pretty, but by the time he’s gotten through the first few words, his voice is stronger, he’s starting to get into the music and forget that this isn’t just a rehearsal for the four of them. “_We’re gonna die like this you know, miserable and old, I really gotta hand it to you, really gotta hand it to you_,” Jamie sings out as the lights start to come up. 

“_Are you positive? Absolutely sure? Just get dressed don’t do this, just get dressed don’t do this_,” and then the lights are up, and he can see the flashes of phones, can glimpse some of the faces out there in the crowd, but he doesn’t let his nerves get the best of him, just looks over to where Tyler is bouncing on stage right, getting ready to join Jamie in singing. He watches Tyler through the entirety of the first verse, but then, when Tyler’s voice is there, supporting his, he turns back toward the crowd. They paid for this, they deserve for them to put on a fucking show. 

He’s still nervous, even as he lets the music wash over him, but he feels Tyler at his shoulder as they go into the second chorus, sharing the mic and playing off each other. That makes it easier. All he has to do is pretend that he’s just here with his new friends, and he can get through this. He knows that he can do it. 

He’s breathless and exhilarated by the end of the first song, still shaky but getting ahold of himself one bit at a time. Luckily, Tyler takes over the talking part for now, so Jamie can just take a swig of his water and give himself a second to try to relax. 

“Hey guys, thanks for coming out to see our very first show with our fucking amazing new singer,” he says, grinning out at the crowd. Jamie’s heart beats a little faster just watching him. Since joining the band, Jamie has watched a lot of live footage of them, so he knows that Tyler’s fucking great with the crowd, knows that unlike him, Tyler was born to do this. “Isn’t he great?” That’s met with a level of screaming that Jamie hadn’t expected. “Yeah, I think so, too,” he laughs. “Wanna hear another one?” 

They’re supposed to be playing ten songs, and Tyler starts their second before the screaming even stops. Jamie is still a little shaky at the top, but by their third song, he’s doing a lot better, even interacting with the crowd a little. By their fourth song, Tyler’s lost his shirt, and he’s in Jamie’s space seemingly as much as possible, bullying Jamie into sharing his mic. Jamie fucking loves it. 

The last song they play is the one that started this whole thing, the one that is both so truthful and a complete pipe dream at the same time. Tyler’s staring into his eyes as they both sing out, “_If it’s love, make it hurt, I deserve it_,” and Jamie doesn’t think he’s ever felt this way in his entire life. 

He’d known for the last few days, but standing in front of this crowd, singing with Tyler and their _band_, Jamie knows that he never wants to stop. He wants this with Tyler, and with Big Rig, and Klinger and Bish. He wants to do this with these guys every night, no matter how terrified he might be beforehand. He pours that feeling into their closing notes, grins at Tyler before taking the mic himself. “Thanks for coming out,” he says. “We’re _Dirty_ fucking _Dangles_, and we love you,” he adds, copying something he’s heard Tyler say time and time again in the live footage he’s watched. Judging by the brilliant smile on Tyler’s face, he’s done the right thing. 

He watches as Tyler blows kisses to the crowd, then laughs as he urges him off stage. Bish is there with towels and more water, and they’re led to the green room where Jamie immediately collapses onto the couch. “Holy shit,” he breathes. “That was the most terrifying and fun thing I’ve ever done.” 

“Jamie!” Tyler exclaims before jumping right on top of him. “Jamie, Jamie, Jamie, I can’t believe you! You did it!”

“Uh, yeah, I guess I did,” Jamie replies. He looks over at Rig and Klinger, who are both grinning, and at Bish, who is giving him a thumbs up. He grunts when the other three jump on top of him as well. He can’t help but laugh, it’s almost like that time back in Juniors that he’d scored the OT goal that got them into the playoffs, only there are four full grown men jumping all over him, and no one is wearing skates. 

“Holy fuck guys, we fucking did it.” Playing in front of a crowd is nothing new for these guys, but they all had to start somewhere. He’s so thankful for their support in this, so glad that they have his back despite only knowing him a short time. 

“And we’re gonna do it all again in a couple fucking days,” Tyler adds. “Now, who the fuck wants to go out? First round on me!”

It’s a good reason to go out and celebrate, not that they need one, so they all cheer in agreement. 

Tyler makes no secret about how he intends for this night to end as soon as they get to their table. Jamie laughs as he crowds in, lifts his arm so that Tyler can fit beneath it. He’s not surprised when Tyler snuggles in, just relaxes back against the booth and drinks his beer. He feels good about the show, even if he is still a little shaky as the adrenaline rush comes down. 

“Hey,” he says, moving in closer to Tyler and speaking low, “you really helped out there, just like, being there for me to focus on. It was really, uh, it helped.” 

Jamie’s heart feels like it skips a beat when Tyler turns his brilliant smile on him, thinks that he should need a permit for that thing. “Oh yeah, bud? Well, feel absolutely welcome to look at me at any and all times. I am here for it,” he says. 

Jamie just shakes his head and focuses back on the rest of the table. There are shots, and more beers, and Tyler pressed up against his side all night. No one even bothers to look for someone else at the bar, they just spend time together. At one point, Jamie is pressing Tyler up against the wall near the washrooms and kissing him until they’re both breathless, hand tight around Tyler’s hips. 

“Wanna get outta here?” Tyler whispers, eyes dark.

“Yeah, let’s do that,” Jamie agrees. They don’t bother saying goodbye to the other guys, just disappear out the backdoor and get an Uber. They spend the drive and the elevator ride making out, stumble through Tyler’s door together. Jamie gets all of Tyler’s clothes off, leaves them in piles leading to the bedroom. Tyler’s giggling when Jamie pushes him down onto the bed, opens his arms so that Jamie can just climb right into them.

All in all, it’s a pretty good night. 

-

Bish drops in first thing the next morning. “So the entire internet is shipping the two of you now,” he tells them over coffee. 

“Oh?” Tyler asks. 

“Someone took photos of you making out at the bar last night,” he shrugs. “So they all think it’s true love.” 

It’s a little too close to comfort for Jamie, having people think that he and Tyler are in love. The truth is that while he might not be in love with Tyler yet, he certainly likes him an awful lot. Tyler has quickly become one of the best friends that Jamie’s ever had because they get along so well. He feels like he can talk about almost anything with Tyler and it wouldn’t be weird. He’s not sure where he stands on the feelings part, but he knows that if they keep spending time together like they are now, he’s going to end up falling hard for Tyler. He doesn’t want to stop sleeping with him though, so he’s keeping his mouth shut on the subject. 

“It’s not love though, just buddies,” Jamie says.

“Sure,” Bish replies, clearly not believing him in the least bit, “I don’t care if you guys wanna make out or if someone takes photos, but if you don’t want people thinking you’re an actual thing, save it for when you’re behind closed doors.”

“I mean, I don’t really care what other people think,” Jamie says, shrugging. “We know it’s just buddies.”

“Also, have you considered what Jamie looks like, and its effect on how much I want to make out with him?” Tyler adds. 

“I like women,” Bish replies. 

“And I’ve been disappointed by that fact every single moment since the day we met.”

“I’m sure,” Bish shoots back, “but anyway, it makes my job easier if you keep it in your pants in public. That way we don’t have to explain anything. And if you want people to actually believe it’s just buddies, maybe find someone else to make out with next time you’re drunk and handsy.”

“Okay but you should just be thankful that the photos are of us kissing. Literally a second later I had my hand down Jamie’s pants,” Tyler tells him with a shrug.

“Alright, definitely none of that anymore,” Bish replies, “whether or not you’re dating. No one needs to see you guys fucking in public.”

“How does it make your job easier?” Jamie asks curiously. He doesn’t really know what Bish does, aside from booking them shows and making sure they get to places on time. He has a sneaking suspicion that Bish is also the one getting them their weed. 

“Because if you guys mostly behave, I don’t have to deal with Miro calling me to whine about everything,” he shrugs. “He’s good at his job, but gets stressed when we put too much pressure on him. Something like this happening more often puts more pressure on him.”

It makes sense to Jamie. He doesn’t think he’d like having to deal with cleaning up after a bunch of guys that have no regard about how much work it is to do so. “We can cool it in public,” he promises. 

“Good. Just to be clear, I don’t care if you’re fucking or not,” Bish states, “I just want you to keep it relatively to yourselves, especially if you’re just doing a buddies thing. If you’re actually in a relationship, we can talk about this again in the future.”

“We’re not gonna be. Can’t fuck up the band like that,” Tyler explains.

“Yeah, I heard you the first time,” Bish replies. Jamie has the feeling that he doesn’t actually believe them. “Thanks for the coffee.” 

Jamie waves as Bish makes his way to the door. It’s not an ideal situation, because it seems like neither he nor Tyler are with impulse control, especially when it comes to each other, but he’s going to try his best. He doesn’t want to cause any problems and it’s not like Bish asked them to actually stop sleeping together. 

“So, I guess I shouldn’t insta story us making breakfast and hashtag is ‘fucked out’ then…” Tyler teases. 

Jamie can’t help but giggle, because he wouldn’t put it past Tyler to actually do that. 

“Maybe not,” Jamie says. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t get fucked out secretly,” he adds, eyebrows raised. “I mean, we have time before rehearsal…” 

Tyler’s grin is the only answer Jamie needs, and he soon finds himself back in Tyler’s bed, naked, and willing to go along with anything Tyler wants. 

-

The next two shows go as well as can be expected. Jamie is still horrifically nervous on stage, but like the first show, he calms down a little with each song they perform. Soon, they’re getting ready to hit the road, packing up their instruments, their clothes, and anything they can’t live without for a couple months. Their first tour date is in Detroit, which isn’t too far from Toronto, so they’ll be meeting up with TSS the next morning, and heading out together, albeit on separate busses. 

Jamie spends the day running around Toronto, making sure to pick up a couple books to read, some new headphones, and some more clothes. He doubts that they’ll get the chance to do laundry often, so he’s going to bring as much as he can to stay hygienic. Tyler is gone most of the day too, but he’s visiting his mom and sisters, along with a few more of his relatives. He’d invited Jamie along, has invited Jamie along to every single one of his activities since they arrived in Toronto, but Jamie had declined, not wanting to impose on a family that barely knows him. 

He’s sitting back, watching Sportsnet, going over everything that he might have forgotten in his head, when Tyler walks in. He doesn’t even hesitate to open up his arms, admit Tyler into them, instead of sitting up so that they can both sit on the couch. It’s only been three weeks and already, Jamie’s inviting Tyler in for cuddles as soon as the guy is in the same room as he is. It’s a problem, probably, but Jamie’s going to ignore that for as long as he possibly can.

“How was it?” Jamie asks. 

“Really good. I’m gonna miss them, but I always do. I usually fly them out for a few tour dates, so I’ll get to seem them but… it’s just… I mean, you get it. You’ve been away from your family for a while now.” 

“Yeah, I get it,” Jamie replies. “Still sucks though.”

“Yeah,” Tyler agrees. He wiggles a little, like he’s trying to get even closer to Jamie. “What about you? How are you doing?”

“Still pretty fucking nervous,” Jamie admits, “like, I know it will probably be fine, but a fucking stadium, or like, an arena? That shit is a lot more than a thousand people. It’s more than ten thousand people.” The last show they’d done had been the biggest, in a venue that could house a thousand. It had sold out even though they’d only announced it an hour ahead of time, of course, and Jamie remained shaky right up until the end. 

“Babe, you’ll be fine. I promise,” Tyler tells him. He keeps talking, but Jamie doesn’t even really know what he’s saying; he’s too caught up in the fact that Tyler just called him _babe_. He’s so stuck on it that he barely even notices Tyler trying to catch his attention. “Jamie? Benny? Come on, it’s gonna be fine,” he hears, finally. 

Jamie mentally shakes himself out and meets Tyler’s eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, it will be fine, I’m sure. I got you, right?”

“Damn right,” Tyler replies, grinning. “And the other guys too, but like, me for sure.”

Jamie can’t really help it; he leans in to kiss Tyler softly. This whole thing has been beyond his wildest dreams and it’s all because of Tyler. If anyone had told Jamie that he would meet this amazingly talented, friendly, _hot_ guy, and join a fucking band with him as soon as he finished school, he would have laughed in their face. But he’s here, in Tyler’s penthouse condo in downtown Toronto, about to go on a huge tour. So much has happened in these past three weeks and there’s so much more to come, but Jamie is able to forget about it because Tyler is kissing him, because Tyler is running his big hands over Jamie’s back, and Jamie is absolutely here for this. 

Tyler shifts a little and they almost fall off the couch together, but Jamie catches him. “Bed?” He suggests. 

“Yeah,” Tyler agrees, so easily. “But like, real quick, you said that you were down to bottom for me?” 

Jamie has to laugh at that one. Tyler hadn’t brought it up again, so he hadn’t known if he was actually interested or not. “Yeah, I’m like, reversible? Versatile? Whatever. Yeah, I want you to fuck me,” Jamie tells him. 

“Fuck yes, Benny,” Tyler replies, and then Jamie feels his lips again, kisses him back until they actually do fall off the couch. The pause for a second to laugh, to chirp each other a little, but then they’re walking down the hall to Tyler’s bedroom. Tyler dropped the boys off during his visit, so they don’t bother closing the door behind them, just face each other as they take their clothes off. 

Tyler looks like he’s about to say something, but Jamie cuts him off with a kiss. Soon, his hands are in Tyler’s hair and Tyler’s tongue is in his mouth and their pressed up against each other, skin against skin, as they kiss and kiss and kiss. 

Sex with Tyler has always been intense, even that first night. He doesn’t remember much about the actual act because he’d been kind of drunk, but he does remember how good it felt to have Tyler beneath him, his blunt nails scrabbling across his back as Jamie thrust into him over and over again. He remembers the noises that Tyler was making, and the way he couldn’t catch his breath while Jamie was working him up and up and up. He remembers the way Tyler sank back into the mattress after Jamie got him off, the way he’d smiled and then leaned in to kiss Jamie through his own orgasm. 

Jamie hadn’t known who Tyler was, but he was definitely interested in seeing him again. He’d wanted to exchange numbers, maybe stay in touch that way when he went back to Victoria. He hadn’t been expecting all of this, but it’s given him a great opportunity to get to know Tyler better. He wonders if the sex will just get more intense the better that they know each other but that’s hard to believe. It’s already so mind blowing; Jamie doesn’t know if he’ll survive anything more than this. 

Slowly, Tyler presses him back against the bed. Jamie spreads his legs for so that Tyler can crawl between them, and pulls him down for another kiss. They stay like that for a while, just kissing and touching each other with soft hands and delicate lips. Jamie’s hands are in Tyler’s hair, his legs are wrapped around Tyler’s waist, and he’s dying to get Tyler even closer. Even having Tyler on top of him, kissing him like the world is ending, isn’t close enough for Jamie. This is something he wants to sink into, something he wants to carry around close to his heart. Just thinking about Tyler makes him feel warm inside, just picturing Tyler makes him want to smile. 

That’s not something that he can have though, not with so much riding on the two of them. He’s going to just have to be happy with what they can have, and that’s great sex and a close friendship. If this is all he can have, he’s going to take it until Tyler doesn’t want it anymore, because Jamie can’t envision a time where he won’t. 

He can feel Tyler hard against his hip; feels him shift to get more friction. Jamie decides it’s time to shift gears, so he tugs at Tyler’s shirt, lifts it up over his head so that he can feel Tyler’s warm skin beneath his fingertips. 

“You’re so fucking hot,” Tyler breathes. “I can’t stop looking at you when you’re like this, all spread out for me. Jamie, fuck, I don’t think you know what you look like.”

Jamie runs his hands over Tyler’s shoulders and draws in a breath, “You make me feel like I’m the best thing you’ve ever seen,” Jamie admits. He doesn’t mean to, but the air around them is thick with words being left unsaid, and Jamie hasn’t been known to be shy about saying them.

“You are. Fucking- Jamie, you’re the best thing I’ve ever seen,” Tyler repeats in agreement. “I can’t believe you—”

“Believe it,” Jamie urges. “Come on, I want this, and I know that you want it too.” 

It seems like that’s exactly what Tyler needs to move forward. Jamie feels him trail kisses over his shoulders and down his torso. He pauses on Jamie’s hips, nips at one of them, before he keeps moving down. “How—do you like being rimmed?” 

Jamie feels his dick jump at the mere suggestion of it and he asks, “Is that something that people don’t like?” 

“I like it too,” Tyler tells him. “Like, a lot. I’m not gonna do it this time, because the idea of getting my mouth on you is already a lot when I know I’m gonna be getting you on my dick, but like, it’s something I want to do. In the future.” 

“In the future, on the tour bus. The tour bus that we don’t have to share with the other guys. The tour bus where we can fuck basically anywhere we want, just gotta make sure the crew is busy,” Jamie agrees. “Right now, I think you should be working toward fucking me.”

“Yeah,” Tyler agrees. Then Jamie watches him reach for the lube that’s still just sitting out on the bedside table. 

Jamie takes it from him, takes his hand and presses a soft kiss against his wrist before pouring some of the liquid onto Tyler’s fingers. “Come on, I’ve been waiting long enough.” He hitches one of his legs up and guides Tyler’s hand down to the apex between them, then gets his hand back into Tyler’s hair. 

They’ve already been too honest with each other this time around, so Jamie drags Tyler into a kiss to avoid admitting anything more. While Tyler kisses him, he feels his fingers press against his entrance, and then slowly slide inside. It’s been a while for Jamie, at least a couple weeks before he’d met Tyler, and this is something he only really does with people that he trusts. Tyler is one of those people now, so when he feels the second finger breach him, he lets his legs fall apart so that Tyler has more room to work with.

It goes much like that, with them kissing over and over as Tyler stretches Jamie out. Tyler takes his time with it, seemingly determined to work Jamie up into a frenzy, and by the time he’s drawing his three slick fingers out, Jamie is desperate for more. 

“Please, Ty,” he breathes. “I need—”

“I got you,” Tyler murmurs, and Jamie can see him pulling back, reaching for the condom, rolling it on and then coating himself with the lube. His hands are shaking, but Jamie is too far gone to ask him why, or offer any type of encouragement. The fact that Jamie is functioning on a hair trigger should be encouragement enough. Jamie bends his knees and admits Tyler between his legs. “Jamie, fuck.” With that, Tyler is lining himself up and slowly pressing inside.

Jamie lets out the breath that he’d been holding in and shifts a bit so that he can get one of his legs around Tyler. He squeezes his shoulders gently and lays back so that he can get used to how full he is. It helps when Tyler moves in to start kissing him, gets even better when Jamie gets a hand between them so that he can squeeze his own dick to relieve the pressure. 

“Come on,” he urges, “you can start moving now.”

Tyler presses one last kiss onto Jamie’s nose and then pulls back. Jamie lets him guide one of his legs up onto his shoulder, lets him slowly start to thrust in. “Fuck,” Tyler lets out. “Fuck, you’re so fucking tight, babe.” 

And there it is again, those four letters that make Jamie’s heart soar. He shouldn’t put so much stock in them, but he can’t help it. He’s starting to think that maybe he falls in love with his dick, just like Tyler does, but unlike Tyler, he doesn’t think he’ll fall out of it. 

“Tyler, come on,” Jamie begs, desperate for more. Tyler’s being too careful, taking too much time, and Jamie just wants to come. 

“Shoulda known you’d be just as bossy on the bottom as you are on top,” Tyler quips. “But I’ll give you what you want, don’t you fucking worry.” With that, Jamie feels him pull out and then thrust back in. He does it again and again, gripping Jamie’s thighs, lifting him up to get a better angle. Tyler’s not being careful anymore, and Jamie is incredibly into it. They should have started doing this long before now, switched off from the beginning, because this is just too good.

“Yes,” he hisses. “Yes, come on.”

“Jamie, fuck—” Tyler breathes. “Fuck, you feel unreal.” 

They stay like that, suspended in the moment, working to get closer and closer, even though this is really as close as they can get. Jamie fists his hand on his dick, stroking in time with Tyler’s thrusts, fingertips on the other hand gripping Tyler’s hip as they move together in synchronism. Jamie can feel the pressure building inside of him, can feel the heat catch fire as Tyler finds that one spot and and manages to hit it every single time. 

“Oh _fuck_,” Jamie cries out as he spills between them. “God, Tyler, please—”

Tyler follows closely after him, spilling into the condom and collapsing on top of him. Jamie pulls him close, kisses him and kisses him and kisses him until he needs to either stop or run out of breath. “God,” he repeats, voice cracked and broken. “We’re gonna do that again, right?” 

“Hell yeah,” Tyler agrees. “Never gonna stop,” he laughs. 

Jamie draws him in for another kiss, ignores the fact that they’re both getting really gross now that they aren’t fucking anymore in favour of thrusting his tongue into Tyler’s mouth. When they finally part, Jamie wriggles a little, “We’re messy.”

“That’s the best kind of sex,” Tyler informs him as he gently pulls out. He ties off the condom and throws it in the trash can beside the bed and then collapses onto his back. “We’re really fucking good at this.”

“We really fucking are,” Jamie agrees.


	7. You Are My Truest Feeling Yet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title from _Sunshine Riptide_ by Fall Out Boy

The first show is in Detroit, but since both _Dirty Dangles_ and TSS are from Toronto, they’ve decided to meet up in the area and caravan down together. It’s not a long drive, but Tyler still finds himself waking up far too early out of excitement. He can’t believe that it’s finally happening, and that they’d managed to find someone to replace Spezz in time. He’s not sure what they would have done if they hadn’t found Jamie; they might have had to cancel the tour.

He leaves Jamie in bed sleeping while he gets up and starts brewing them some coffee. While that happens, he ducks out onto his balcony for a smoke, and messages the tour group chat, demanding to know if anyone else is as excited as he is. He’s not surprised when it’s Mitch that messages him back immediately. That kid has way too much energy. 

He pockets his phone once more and decides to make breakfast. They have a couple hours before they need to leave to catch the bus, and Tyler wants to start the day off right. 

He’s about halfway through preparing the omelettes when Jamie stumbles out of his room. “Morning,” Tyler says brightly, “there’s coffee.”

“Thanks, are you making breakfast?” Jamie asks him as he slides onto one of the stools against Tyler’s breakfast nook. 

“Yeah,” Tyler responds proudly. “Thought it would be good, you know? Get our energy up.”

Jamie shoots him a smile and reaches forward to grab his coffee. It’s still early, so Tyler doesn’t press Jamie for more conversation. He knows that no one else is usually as much of a morning person as he is, so he tends to stay quiet until others are ready to talk. It takes until he sets the food down in front of Jamie for him to really say anything. “Should we cool it on the sex? I mean, since we’ll be sharing a bus with the other guys?”

Tyler chuckles and shakes his head. “I thought we told you, we don’t all share a bus. We have two, because otherwise I’m pretty sure Klinger and Rig would kill me. I used to share with Spezz and some of our crew members, so we figured that you and I would share. We don’t really need to cool it unless you want to?” 

Jamie looks surprised at the offer, and shakes his head quickly. “Uh, no? I’d really rather not,” he replies. 

“Me neither, so there we go,” Tyler says. “Besides, we wouldn’t have had to even if we were sharing with the other guys. Spezz used to literally throw condoms at me when I brought someone on the bus, which was basically like, every fucking show, so even if we were sharingwith other people, we wouldn’t have to cool it.” 

Tyler adds more of the food onto Jamie’s plate when he finishes up and then sits down next to him. “So, you ready for this?” 

“No,” Jamie laughs, “but it’s happening anyway. I don’t think I’d be ready even if I had years to get used to the idea.” 

Tyler leans forward and squeezes his thigh gently. “We’ll get you through it,” he says. “No matter what, me and the guys? We’re in your corner.” 

“I know. I appreciate it.” 

“Well you better also appreciate this food, and fast, because we need to make sure we have everything together. Don’t wanna accidentally forget your guitar.” 

“That would be pretty tragic,” Jamie mentions. “But it’s already packed.”

It’s true, they’d loaded up all their instruments the night before, with Jamie going over the storage of everything with painstaking effort. Tyler feels like he should have been annoyed by it since he’s the one that’s been on tour before, but instead he’d been charmed. It seems like everything about Jamie gets him going now, even the aggravating parts. He can tell that Jamie is already invested in the band’s success. 

They finish up breakfast and kill the rest of the pot of coffee, and then they make sure that they haven’t forgotten anything. Finally, they share a shower, get dressed, and hop into an Uber. 

Klinger is the first one to greet them when they arrive. Bish shows up shortly afterward, and then Big Rig. Their crew is already there, taking care of all the last minute tasks. Tyler lights a cigarette and leans back against the bus and watches the flurry of activity going on around him. Rig joins him shortly afterward, grinning. He steals a drag from Tyler’s cigarette and says, “I know I’m gonna hate everyone on this tour by the time it’s over, but I’m excited as fuck right now.” 

“Same, dude. Although, I’ve been living with Jamie for the past three weeks now, and I don’t think I’m ever gonna hate him. I don’t think you will either.” 

“Yeah, but I’m not getting his dick on the regular,” Rig replies, shrugging. 

“You’re missing out, dude,” Tyler tells him, grinning. “It’s so good.” 

“I’m sure it is, but like, I’ve got something going on with someone else,” Rig replies secretively. “And no, I’m not fucking telling you who. It’s too new and you always do embarrassing shit when you’re trying to hook us up.” 

“I do not.” 

“Yes you do! Remember when you were trying to get that girl to talk to Klinger, and you fucking like, said it over the microphone in front of five thousand people? Embarrassing as shit.”

“Got him laid,” Tyler responds. “That was the whole point, wasn’t it?” 

“That’s not the fucking point,” Rig replies, “it wasn’t even the same girl.”

“It wasn’t?”

“Nah dude, it wasn’t.” 

“Shit,” Tyler laughs. “Maybe you shouldn’t tell me then.” 

They’re interrupted by the arrival of TSS, who all hop out of an Uber together. Tyler marvels at how close they all seem to be. His band is close too, but it seems like TSS spend every waking moment together. Tyler isn’t sure if he could handle that, being around Klinger and Rig and Bish all the time. Jamie on the other hand—he could spend hours on end with Jamie and it wouldn’t be enough.

He walks over to greet them, hugs them and pats them on the back, then chirps them a bit for still being in a van instead of having a bus.

“Well, we can’t all be as fucking famous as _Dirty Dangles_,” Auston complains. 

“That’s _Dirty_ fucking _Dangles_ actually,” Jamie responds, coming up behind Tyler and slinging an arm over his shoulder. Tyler leans back against that solid mass of muscle behind him and makes sure to shoot a smirk at Willy as he does so. 

“Hi Jamie,” Willy says, batting his eyelashes in the most obvious way possible. “I’m really excited to be on a tour with you,” he says. 

“Well _I’m_ excited to be on a tour with you,” Tyler shoots back obnoxiously. 

Willy just gives him an innocent smile and then turns right back to Jamie. Tyler decides that he’s going to ignore him until he learns to stay away from his man. It doesn’t matter that Jamie’s not really his, he’s Tyler’s on a fundamental level: his fuckbuddy, his lead singer, quickly becoming one of his best friends. Just because they aren’t officially together doesn’t mean that Tyler’s going to let William Nylander set his angel eyes on Jamie. He doesn’t get to do that, not until Jamie calls a stop to them fooling around whenever they possibly can.

Tyler is thankful when Bish walks up and shakes hands with TSS’s manager, Freddie, and announces that they need to all get on their respective vehicles so that they can head down to Detroit. 

“See ya later then,” Tyler tells the other guys as he snakes his arm around Jamie’s back. He makes a show of bringing his hand down to squeeze his hip. On their way toward the bus, Tyler asks, “you doing okay, bud?” 

“Yeah, so far,” Jamie says, “I won’t say no to just chilling, maybe having a beer or two before we hit the stage though. Not like, every time, just. This is the first one. I’m fucking terrified.”

“Jamie, whatever you need tonight, okay? We got your back,” Tyler tells him. “Now, I have some songs I wanna show you, maybe we can go over them on the way to the venue,” Tyler suggests. He sees the way that Jamie’s eyes light up, and he knows that he’s said the right thing. 

He’s proven right when they get to the Windsor/Detroit border and Jamie hasn’t brought up being nervous even once. 

-

Jamie does have a couple beers before they hit the stage that night, while he watches TSS and _Sin Bin_ from side stage. Tyler stands next to him and chats with him idly to try to keep his mind off of things. They’d made great progress on the bus earlier, with a few songs that Tyler’s been playing around with for the last couple weeks. So far, Tyler is really liking how they’re coming along. 

It seems to have been enough of a distraction for Jamie, working on music and drinking a beer or two, because when they hit the stage, the only tell tale sign of his nerves are how badly his hands are shaking. He starts the show facing away from the crowd too, but he’s seen it already, he knows how big it is, so Tyler isn’t worried. Besides, Tyler knows that he’s entertaining enough for the whole band. 

By the time they’re playing their second song, Jamie is facing the crowd and getting into it. Tyler has nothing to worry about now, so he just does his own thing, chiming in on his cues and tearing up his side of the stage. For the most part, he just does the same things that he would have if it were Spezz on stage with him, but then, after he’s ripped his shirt off and flirted with the crowd a ridiculous amount, he looks over at Jamie and almost loses his train of thought. 

Jamie looks so good under the bright lights, eyes closed, singing his heart out. He’s got a leg up on one of their amps and he’s bent over, singing into the microphone like his life depends on it. Tyler isn’t sure he’s ever seen anything so hot in his _life_. He can’t help but move toward Jamie, can’t help but get up in his space, leaning against him as he shreds on his guitar. When Jamie finishes, he meets Tyler’s eyes and grins. It’s a little manic, but Jamie seems to be mostly keeping his cool. 

They sing out the rest of the song together, sharing Jamie’s microphone, and practically rubbing up on each other on the stage. Every time he did something like this with Spezz, he’d back away laughing because it was a joke, but this time, no one is joking; Tyler knows that he can probably have whatever he wants after they’re done their set, and he knows that Jamie is thinking the same. 

“Do I need to get a spray bottle for you two?” Rig says into the microphone with a laugh. “Pretty sure that Jamie is Tyler’s new muse guys, what do you think?” 

The crowd cheers and Tyler backs off, but not until he’s given Jamie’s ass a little slap and giggled the whole way to his own side of the stage. “He’s wrong,” Tyler replies even though he’s actually right on the money with that one, “my muse is all of you beautiful people who took the time out of your busy days to come and see us play. You’re the ones that keep us going.” Tyler gives the crowd a winning smile and proclaims, “this one’s for you.” 

The rest of the show goes similarly, except that Tyler has a really hard time staying away from Jamie. He finds himself drifting over to centre stage, trying to get into Jamie’s space over and over again. It delights the crowd, but Tyler knows that most of them already think that he and Jamie are boyfriends. He knows he’d promised Bish to try to behave better in public, but he’s never been that great at self control. By the time they finish playing their last song, Tyler is right up against Jamie, breathing the same air and pressing his forehead against Jamie’s neck. The crowd is going _insane_. 

Jamie yells out their catch phrase, “we’re _Dirty_ fucking _Dangles_ and we love you,” and then the five of them are traipsing off stage, taking the towels offered by the crew. The other two bands are there as well, and Tyler lets himself grin huge at them. 

“You know, if you told me the two of you were together, I would have backed off,” Willy tells him. “I’m not a total dick.” 

“We’re uh… we’re not together. It’s just buddies,” Tyler tells him before he chugs an entire bottle of water. 

He’s reaching for another one when Willy replies, “Could have fooled me.” 

Tyler just shrugs, because there’s nothing else to say on the matter; he and Jamie can’t be more than what they are, so he’s just going to have to be happy with what they do have. He bumps Jamie’s hip with his own, and goes over to congratulate the other guys.

They have an early call time to be on the busses, but instead of letting that stop him, Tyler invites anyone interested to crowd onto their bus to chill afterward. Dumo brings a case of beer and his boys, and TSS crowds together on the couch playing Mario Kart. All in all, it’s a pretty good time, and if Tyler shoots a smirk at Willy as he leads Jamie off to his bunk at the end of the night, well, no one else needs to know.

-

The first few days of tour are always a little crazy. Tyler takes a little while to settle in, bouncing between vans and busses, hanging out with his boys and the other bands on tour. This tour is different than the rest though, because on this tour, he has Jamie. In the past, Tyler would have probably brought someone back to the bus but he doesn’t even want to, not with Jamie there, looking like everything that Tyler has ever wanted. Instead, they flop all over each other on the couch in the living room, lie pressed up against each other in one of their bunks and get high. Having someone on tour with him that Tyler is hooking up with regularly has really Tyler’s tour dynamic, but in the best way possible. 

He’s lying down with his head in Jamie’s lap as they travel from Tampa to Fort Lauderdale with Jamie’s hand gently carding through his hair, thinking that this is something he could really get used to. The thought strikes him as odd, since he’s never had these types of feelings for anyone before. Even the people that he’d fallen hard for were always temporary. He’d never had enough time to really get used to them. He’s never been in love for longer than a week in the past, but Jamie’s been around for over a month now, and Tyler can’t see himself ever not wanting this. 

The realization makes him sit up suddenly. He’s not sure what his face looks like, but it makes Jamie ask, “Ty, are you okay?” 

“I need some air,” he says. “I need—can we stop? I need to make a phone call.” 

He needs to talk to someone and he doesn’t want Jamie to overhear this.

He pops up and goes to talk to the driver, asks for a stop at the next place possible. It ends up taking ten minutes of Tyler fidgeting next to their driver, and ignoring Jamie asking him what’s wrong. As soon as the bus comes to a halt, Tyler launches himself out the door. He goes into the roadside convenience store and buys himself some snacks and then he gets onto Rig and Klinger’s bus. 

“Whoa, Ty, what’s wrong?” Rig asks him.

“Can you go onto the other bus? You, Klinger and Bish?” He doesn’t want them listening into the conversation that he’s about to have. “And anyone else on the bus? I need—I just—please?”

“Uh… Okay?” Rig replies with a frown. “Hey guys, Tyler needs the bus. We’re gonna go keep Jamie company.” With that, everyone who’d been onboard, which included members from both TSS and _Sin Bin_ as well as a variety of crew members, clears off, and Tyler is left alone with his thoughts, and the driver. 

He dumps his snacks on the table and forgets about them completely as he curls up on the couch and dials a number that he doesn’t think he’ll ever forget. The line connects and rings a handful of times before someone picks up, and there’s a very familiar voice saying, “hello?” 

“Spezz? It’s me,” Tyler says quietly. “Are you busy? I really need someone to talk to.” 

“Are you okay? You sound not okay,” Spezz replies. “Just let me go into the other room.” 

“I don’t know if I’m okay or not,” Tyler states. He curls up even tighter on the couch and sighs heavily. “I fucked up with Jamie.” 

He hears Spezz shuffle a little, and then hears a door close. Finally, Spezz offers, “why don’t you start from the beginning?” 

Tyler tells Spezz everything, from the moment that they talked about how neither of them wanted to stop sleeping with each other, to agreeing that they’d call it quits if either of them started feeling more for the other than physical attraction and friendship. He talks about how much they’d been blurring those lines by sharing a bed while still in Toronto, and continuing to share sleeping space now that they’re on the road. He admits quietly to the fact that he’s got at least three notebooks full of cheesy lyrics about Jamie. 

“I don’t know what to do, Spezz,” he says, finally, “I don’t want to not be in love with Jamie.” 

“That’s… a lot. But honestly, I kind of expected it to happen. Even when I was around both of you before we got back home, I could tell that it was something more than your usual obsessions. It’s not a surprise to me that you fell for him. He’s good looking- probably too good for you, to be honest,” he chuckles, “but the two of you seem to be happy, in everything that I’ve seen, and it’s not often that anyone really gets you, which is why you fall out of love in the first place.”

Tyler shifts a little, frowning as he thinks about the time he’s spent with Jamie so far. It’s been really good, and he does think that Jamie gets him. Jamie especially gets him when they’re in bed, and their compatibility in everything that they’ve done together has been absolutely unreal. “But how do we make this work?” 

“I’m assuming that you haven’t stopped fucking.” 

“Um, yeah, not at all,” Tyler replies. “Why would I do that?” 

“Why wouldn’t you take it further than sex then? Has it bothered anyone? Has anyone complained at all?” Spezz asks him. 

“Well, no,” Tyler replies, “but like, what if it fucks with band dynamics? What if we start fighting or something?” 

Tyler hears Spezz sigh and then curls in on himself a little bit more. “Ty, what you’re telling me is that you’ve finally found someone that you don’t want to be without, that gets you on a level that no one has before. You’re telling me that even though you knew it could fuck with the band, you kept sleeping with him, making music with him, and spending as much time as you can with him. I’m telling you that you need to take a chance. You need to follow your heart on this, because it could be really fucking good.” 

“But it’s me. It could also be a real fucking shit show,” Tyler points out. “Like, I fuck this shit up all the time.”

“Sure, but you also don’t always choose the right people,” Spezz points out. “This might be the right time. Besides, if it doesn’t work out, you can always get another singer.” 

Tyler squawks with indignation at the idea that he would ever want to replace Jamie. “Fuck that, if I trick him into being my boyfriend and we break up, we’re just gonna have to make it work. Jamie is fucking incredible. No offense to you, Spezzie, but like—”

“Tyler, I’ve heard him. Don’t even worry about it.” There’s silence for a moment, and just when Tyler is going to apologize again, he hears, “and I don’t think you’re gonna have to trick him into anything; I think he’s all in on you.”

“You really think so?” Tyler asks shyly. He hopes so. He wants Jamie more than he’s ever wanted anyone else, and he wants him for more than just a couple nights, more than just this tour. He wants Jamie for as long as he can have him, so he really needs to make sure that this is the right decision before he sets himself up for heartbreak. 

“I think so, Ty,” Spezz responds. “I _really_ think so.” 

“Okay,” Tyler agrees, resolved to take a chance on Jamie now. “I just—I really love him.” It’s the first time that he’s admitted it, at least in the context of him wanting to stay in love with him, and it feels good; it feels right. “I love Jamie.” 

“Glad we got that figured out, but let me guess, you kicked everyone off the second bus so that you could call me, and you have another couple hours before you can switch back.”

“You know me too well,” Tyler admits. 

“So tell me about these songs you’ve been writing.”

“Okay, the one I like best so far is like, kinda poppier than our other stuff, and the chorus goes like _you’re all I see, sink into me; sharpen your teeth, sink into me_,” Tyler starts to sing, only to be interrupted by Spezz’s laughter. 

“Yeah, you’re in fucking love,” he says. 

“Oh shit, I really am that obvious, aren’t I?” Tyler gasps. 

“You really fucking are.”

“I’ve got another one too, I think it’s even worse. _I know a place where we could be alone, we’ve got to get our stories straight, ‘cause my eyes are stuck on yours, and yours and staring back at mine, oh, I can see it in your face_,” Tyler sings softly. 

“Yeah, that’s just as fucking bad. Jesus Tyler, I never would have thought you’d actually settle down and really fall for someone.”

“Dude, you and me both. It’s fucking terrifying but just… It’s Jamie. I thought I was in love before, all those other times, but this is so much different. Like, I can’t even fucking look away from him. I can’t be away from him. He’s been inside of me and it’s not close enough. I just… this is real. This is real love, and it’s just good. It doesn’t fucking hurt, it doesn’t make me ache inside because I know that Jamie isn’t fucking with me, that he’s not playing games. I don’t know if he loves me too, but I really fucking hope he does.”

“I call best man at the wedding,” Spezz responds, and it’s probably the best response, because Tyler breaks out laughing. 

“You’re gonna have to fight five other guys for that,” he says. 

“I think I can handle those assholes,” Spezz brags. Tyler ignores that he hasn’t even denied wanting to marry Jamie, because he can’t really handle how much he _wants_ that. 

They spend the next few hours talking about the songs that Tyler’s bee writing, with Spezz chirping him constantly for how ridiculously obvious the songs are about his feelings for Jamie. Now that he’s actually talking about it, he can recognize every time his heart skipped a beat, every time his stomach fluttered because of Jamie’s smile, or his laugh. He’s still kind of freaked out about potentially ruining the band, but his attachment to Jamie isn’t just about sex anymore —if it ever was. He wants to see if they can make this work, wants to wake up next to Jamie every morning, whether they’re in a hotel, on a tour bus, or back at Tyler’s condo. He wants everything with Jamie, and he can’t really believe that he hadn’t realized it before. 

-

The next time Tyler sees Jamie, it’s later that afternoon, and they need to do their sound check before the show that night. It’s not a good time to pour out his feelings, but they have the next day off, and they get hotel rooms the next night. He’s hoping that he can convince Jamie into exploring the city with him once they get there. He makes a plan, maybe of spending the day with Jamie, doing some local things, and then just focuses on the performance ahead of them. If he’s a little bit more clingy with Jamie on stage that night, it’s because Jamie is really getting into his role as their singer, not because Tyler can’t manage to put more than three feet between them because he’s so desperately in love.

Bish gives him a bit of a look when he comes off stage, but Tyler just shrugs and grins in return. Nothing is going to bring him down from this high, nothing except Jamie not feeling the same way about him. He can’t say anything, not yet, because he needs to keep living in this feeling. He doesn’t want any of this to end.

They go out with the guys and the other bands that night, since they don’t have bus call until the early morning. Tyler sticks close to Jamie all night, all but sitting in his lap in the booth, and even managing to coax him out onto the dancefloor. Jamie has hilariously bad moves, but he makes Tyler laugh and laugh, and maybe fall even more in love with him.

When they get back to the bus, Tyler drags Jamie into his bunk and wraps himself around him like an octopus. Jamie is drunk enough to giggle at him, and sweet enough to kiss him over and over again until they fall asleep, wrapped up in each other’s arms in a tiny little cubicle of a bed. Tyler’s got Jamie all around him, and it still doesn’t feel like enough. He wants so much more than just buddies with him and he’s not sure how to say that.


	8. Stay in Bed, Just Make Love That’s All

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title from _I Caught Fire (In Your Eyes)_ by The Used

When Jamie wakes up, Tyler is stretched out half on top of him, drooling on his shoulder. They’re also in a new city, with their first day off in a couple weeks. All Jamie wants to do today is curl up with Tyler in their hotel room, smoke up, and fool around a little. He wants to spend the day casually getting Tyler off, eating room service, and relaxing. It’s the first chance they’ve gotten to just hang out without being in a moving vehicle, and Jamie is really looking forward to it. 

He draws his fingers gently down Tyler’s back and gives him a soft smile when Tyler blinks awake. Jamie dips his head down to kiss him, and Tyler joins in wholeheartedly despite their morning breath. When they break apart, Jamie brushes Tyler’s messy bedhead back and asks, “can I blow you?” 

“Like I’d ever say no to that,” Tyler replies, smirking. “What a nice thing to wake up to.” 

Jamie dips his head down to kiss Tyler again, and then shifts him so that he’s lying on his back. There’s not much room for them to manoeuvre in the small space, but Jamie manages to slide down Tyler’s body and slips his underwear over his ass. He’s not hard yet, but Jamie can remedy that easily enough. He takes Tyler’s flaccid cock into his mouth and works him up. Tyler’s usually pretty easy in the mornings, so it doesn’t take long before he’s coming down Jamie’s throat. Jamie swallows it all down, crawls back up Tyler’s body and kisses him until he jerks himself to completion, coming all over Tyler’s perfect abs. 

He collapses next to Tyler, takes his time to catch his breath. Once he does, he asks, “Any plans today?” He’s really hoping that Tyler is on the same wavelength, looking forward to a nice day in bed.

“First I’m gonna clean this mess off my belly,” Tyler teases him. “And then, there’s a cafe that me and the guys usually get breakfast at around the corner. After that, maybe exploring a little? Hotel check in isn’t ‘til three, so if you wanna tag along, it might be fun.”

“Oh, uh—”

“Do you have other plans?” Tyler asks him, looking worried. 

“No,” Jamie assures him. “I was hoping to just chill in the hotel, but if that’s not an option, we can find something to do.” 

“Atta boy,” Tyler says before rooting around for some dirty laundry to wipe the come off his stomach. “I’m gonna shower first, see ya in a bit.” 

Even if they wanted to shower together (which Jamie wants, definitely), the one that they have on the bus is too small for two guys their size to share. Jamie accepts Tyler’s kiss and watches his ass as he makes his way to the tiny bus bathroom. He takes a few seconds to gather himself before getting up as well, and making some coffee. He can hear the generator running so he knows that they’re probably parked outside of the hotel, which makes him long even more for a real bed. It’ll have to wait though, because now that Tyler’s suggested it, he kind of wants to spend the day exploring the city. 

They switch off when Tyler finishes in the shower, get dressed, and then head out. As it turns out, Tyler doesn’t have any plans past breakfast, so Jamie spends some time googling things while they wait for their meals to arrive. They’re in Pittsburgh today, Rig has plans with a mysterious gentleman, and Klinger is going sightseeing with _Sin Bin_. Bish has some work to do, so once they finish eating, he sets them on their way after making them all promise not to do anything that will heighten his blood pressure.

Outside of the cafe, Jamie turns to Tyler and says, “So there’s a craft beer festival going on a couple blocks from here. I thought that maybe we could hit it up? The Pirates are playing the Jays later too, so that might be fun? Other than that, we could like, look at all the fucking rivers and bridges?” 

“Craft beer and baseball sound great, Jamie,” Tyler tells him, knocking their hips together. “Lead the way.”

They walk together toward the area that’s corded off for the craft beer festival, their hands brushing because they’re walking so close together. It’s not the first time it’s happened, since he and Tyler have gotten progressively closer since meeting, but usually one of them moves away. Jamie isn’t going to be the one that does it, and it doesn’t seem likeTyler will either. 

Once they get there, they pay their entrance fee and collect their tickets. Jamie is a big fan of small batch brews, so he’s pretty excited about it. He’s even more excited when Tyler’s hand brushes against his again. This time, Jamie takes a chance and tangles their fingers together instead of letting Tyler pull away. They’ve held hands during sex a few times, done it while snuggled up on the bus couch, woken up together with their hands clasped. It’s never been like this, and it shouldn’t feel like such a big deal but it does; Jamie isn’t going to let go until Tyler does.

They make a tour around before deciding what they want to try the most. “If I don’t like mine, will you drink it?” Tyler asks. 

“Come on, I know that you like beer,” Jamie teases. “What aren’t you going to like?”

“I like fucking like, bud light, or like, PBR. I don’t usually like the fancier stuff,” Tyler shrugs. Tyler’s ability to just be himself so shamelessly is just another thing that Jamie really loves about him. If Jamie ever admitted that to Jordie, he’d be chirped about it for his entire life. 

“Okay, but if I find something that tastes like water, I’ll give it to you,” Jamie teases anyway. 

“Deal,” Tyler agrees easily. He squeezes Jamie’s hand and leads them up to a stand. 

They each exchange a ticket for a small sampler of two different beers being offered by the brewery, tap them together, then take a sip. Jamie’s choice is fruity and light, and a little bit sweet. He really likes it, so he takes another sip. Tyler looks like he’s still trying to decide if he likes it or not, but eventually shrugs and drinks the rest of it down. He grins at Jamie afterward, and Jamie can’t help but lean in for a soft kiss. It’s only after he pulls away and Tyler is grinning at him that he remembers Bish telling them to be a little more careful. There’s nothing he can do about it now, but he resolves to try to be better. 

They makes a few more choices, the next one being a delicious heavy malt that Jamie has to take a bit more time to sip at. Sometimes the beer goes down easy, but Jamie is pretty sure that a bottle of this would be like eating an entire loaf of bread. Tyler presses his glass into Jamie’s hand as well, and then walks off to get himself a pair of sour beers. 

The two of them snag a table after that, each with three samplers in front of them. Jamie knocks his feet against Tyler’s. “Having fun?” He asks. 

“Yeah, I think I’m gonna buy a case of those sours for the bus,” he says, “what about you?”

“Yeah, it’s been fun. The sun is shining, the beer is delicious, and we actually get to hang out somewhere that’s not the bus. It’s been pretty fucking nice.” He matches Tyler grin and reaches forward to take his hand again. “Now let’s drink some fucking beer.” 

-

They spend a couple hours at the craft beer festival, but they need to eat and rehydrate eventually, so they find a diner, get a booth, and get themselves some food. Jamie’s feeling pretty good about everything that’s happened so far; it’s making him think that maybe Tyler feels the same way as he does. Before, he’d known that Tyler was into him, that Tyler wanted to be his friend, but right now, it feels like more than that.

Yesterday, when Tyler forced everyone over to the one bus, Jamie had spent the afternoon writing a song. He hadn’t asked for any help from the other guys, so he knows that ever word and every chord progression had come from his own heart. It’s more Jamie’s style, not the same style as anything he’s sung with _Dirty Dangles_. He’d known from the first line that the song is about Tyler, and he hopes that one day he’s brave enough to sing it for him. If they have more days like this, he thinks that it will happen sooner rather than later. 

After their meal, they walk back to the bus so that Tyler can grab his Jays shirt. “If I’d known we were going, I would have brought my hat and my jersey too,” he tells Jamie as he strips off the shirt he’d been wearing and pulls on the blue one. “We’ll just have to go to one when we get back home.” 

Jamie orders them an Uber as Tyler smokes a cigarette outside of the bus, and together they pile in and head to PNC Park. They find their seats and get some beers from the server walking around, and then Jamie stretches out, getting ready to settle in for an afternoon of good sports, terrible beer, and Tyler. 

“Wanna know something weird?” Jamie asks him. 

“Fucking always,” Tyler replies. 

“So, during high school, I played a lot of hockey, like, on teams and shit, right? But I played baseball too. It was starting to sound like I might get drafted for either of them but then I decided that I wanted to pursue music instead.” 

“Okay, what?” Tyler asks. “Seriously, what the fuck? Are you just really good at everything?”

Jamie laughs at that, because he really doesn’t think that he’s that great, but Tyler seems to think otherwise. “I’m really bad at public speaking, which you know,” he says.

“But you got over that, too,” Tyler protests. “And you’re like, really fucking hot, great in bed, great at singing, and you could have played pro in two different sports? What other secrets are you keeping from me, Jamie Benn?” 

“Nothing that I can think of,” Jamie laughs, “I’m also pretty terrible at dancing.” 

“Yeah, but you’re terrible in a way that’s super fucking endearing,” Tyler dismisses. Jamie feels himself flush at that, and turns back to watch the players warming up. 

They finish their first beers during the first inning, and Jamie goes to get them some more. The stands aren’t very full, so he and Tyler don’t have many other baseball fans around them. It lets them both stretch their legs out so that they’re leaning more and more against each other throughout the second and the third. After taking a break from beer in favour of water, Tyler leans his head against Jamie’s shoulder and Jamie gets an arm around him. 

He knows that they must look pretty cozy together, and he’s proven right when they end up on the kiss cam during the next break in action. Tyler looks positively delighted, and Jamie forgets everything that Bish had told them about keeping things under wraps. He cups Tyler’s jaw gently and tilts his head up, pressing a soft kiss to Tyler’s lips. He doesn’t think anything of it after that, just stays cuddled up with Tyler in the stands until the end of the game. 

On the way back to the bus, Tyler takes his hand and doesn’t let go. Jamie feels happier than he thinks he’s ever felt with someone else, and he knows that he’s been in love before. Tyler is different though, with Tyler, it’s like he’s in an entirely different plane. 

They’re able to check into the hotel now, finding that they have separate rooms. “Not that well use them, an I right?” Tyler laughs. If Tyler wants to share, Jamie is certainly not going to say no. They take their bags up to Tyler’s room and Jamie watches as Tyler flops back against the bed. “Too much beer and sun,” he complains. “I need a fucking nap.”

“I can go,” Jamie offers. He could use a nap too but he’s not going to get in Tyler’s way. He has his own room after all.

“Fuck right off with that and get in. I like having you in my bed while I’m sleeping.” 

Jamie likes it too, even when they’re crammed into one of their bunks on the bus. He’s not going to deny Tyler what he wants, though, so he strips off his pants and slips underneath the blankets. Tyler cuddles in right away and sighs happily. “I really like spending time with you,” he admits quietly. “I’m so glad we found you.”

That’s—that’s not nothing, and Jamie is really starting to feel like Tyler isn’t just casual about this either. Instead of reacting like he wants to, which is to roll on top of Tyler and kiss him until they’re both gasping for air, Jamie just gives him a little squeeze. “I’m glad too,” he says. “I’m very glad.” 

He smiles when he hears Tyler sigh happily, but then the day and the beers start to catch up with him and he has to close his eyes. It feels like Tyler is somehow asleep already, so Jamie lets himself drift off with words about being lucky dance in his head.

-

Tyler is still sleeping when Jamie wakes up about an hour later, and Jamie slowly extracts himself so he can go take a piss. He strongly considers climbing back into bed but then his guitar catches his eye. He’s been playing around with a song for a week or so now, but he hasn’t been able to bring himself to show anyone just yet. It’s too personal, and he knows that it’s obviously about Tyler.

Tyler is asleep though, and none of the other guys are around, so he picks up the instrument and sits down on one of the chairs. He knows that there’s always a chance that Tyler will wake up, but Jamie has experienced how deeply he sleeps first hand, and knows it’s even worse when he’s been drinking. He likes knowing these things about Tyler; they feel just as important as knowing what he looks like when he comes.

The melody slowly starts to slot together, and Jamie doesn’t know how long it’s been by the time he starts singing, “_Lightning strikes once in your life, if this is love, I’m rollin’ the dice_.” Jamie is singing the last verse of the song when he finally looks up and sees Tyler looking right back at him. His fingers falter to a stop and he flushes when he puts sets the guitar back in its stand. “Sorry if I woke you up.” 

“I can think of way worse ways to be woken up, dude,” Tyler replies, shrugging it off. “What was that? It’s not one of ours.”

“No,” Jamie agrees. “It’s uh—I wrote it? Like, just now sort of? Like, I’ve been playing around with it in my head for a week, but this is the first time I’ve played it all out loud.” 

Tyler is just staring at him now, his face slack with shock, and Jamie is sure that he’s figured out that the song is about him. “Can you play it again? For me?” He asks, finally. 

Jamie doesn’t really want to, but he can’t see a way to get out of it. He picks the guitar up again, and says, “it still needs some work,” before he starts strumming. He can’t look at Tyler as he starts to sing the lyrics that he’s come up with, can’t look at him as he starts the chorus either. All he can do is sing, “_I never wanna see your heart happy with another, I never wanna let you go, ever, cuz you’re mine. I never wanna see your heart happy, with another, I never wanna let you go, so hold me close tonight_.” 

He falters when he gets to the end, knowing that Tyler must have figured him out. Tyler said that he never stays in love with anyone, and Jamie had been willing to take what he could get. Now he’s ruined it; Tyler is surely going to call this whole thing off now that he knows Jamie’s secret. 

The silence rings out between them, and Jamie can’t look up. He doesn’t, not even when he hears Tyler get out of the bed, feels him slide onto the couch next to him. He keeps looking at the floor, even when Tyler’s thigh presses against his. “Jamie, babe, can you look at me, maybe?” Jamie hears him ask. 

He doesn’t want to, but the way Tyler sounds…Jamie looks up. The way Tyler is looking at him is so tender, so _loving_ that Jamie almost has to look away. It’s too good to be true; Tyler can’t feel the same way about him. But then Tyler’s hand is on his cheek, cupping it gently, and he’s saying, “I think I’ve probably written at least a hundred songs about you since meeting you. I didn’t think it was a thing at first, because of how I am, but I think…” he pauses for a handful of seconds before continuing with, “I think the song that describes how I’m feeling is one that we’ve already sung together, and it goes like _can’t you, can’t you feel it rolling off your lips, tensing up your shoulders, come on_,” he whispers.

Jamie can’t leave him hanging, has to join in, “_It’s love, make it hurt, I deserve it, it’s love, it’s love, it’s love_.” They sing it together, voices harmonizing perfectly as the words tumble out of their mouths. When they finish the song, whispering the words against each other’s lips by the end of it, Jamie has to close the distance between them. 

He hears the desperate noise that Tyler makes, feels it roll out of his chest, and it only makes Jamie gather him closer and kiss him more. He’s still not positive that Tyler feels the same way, but he can’t seem to stop kissing him regardless. Tyler doesn’t seem to want him to, giving back everything he’s getting, hands in Jamie’s hair, body moving closer and closer with every brush of their lips. 

Soon, the guitar that Jamie has been playing makes itself known by keeping them from pressing right up against each other. It gives him the chance to pull back, to softly draw his fingers down Tyler’s cheek. “It doesn’t have to hurt you know,” he whispers. “Love doesn’t have to hurt.”

“Jamie,” Tyler breathes. “Do you love me too?”

Jamie sets the guitar back on its stand and turns to face Tyler again. “Fuckin’ basically since we first met,” he admits. “And then you said that we shouldn’t if we were gonna feel things, and I didn’t want to give it up, so I pretended it was just casual.”

“Jamie,” Tyler repeats. “I—I fall in love all the fucking time, but it’s never felt this way with anyone else. I don’t ever want to fall out of love with you.”

Jamie leans in and kisses him again, softly this time, has to do it again before pulling away, but then he draws Tyler closer to his body and says, “I don’t want that either.”

The look on Tyler’s face is impossibly fond, but his brow furrows and Jamie can’t have that. This is supposed to be a good thing. He’s about to lean in and kiss Tyler when Tyler says, “Okay, but what does this mean?” He asks. “You love me, and I love you, but what does that mean?”

Jamie cocks his head to the side, confused about what Tyler is asking him. “I think it means we’re in love,” he says. “Should there be more to it?”

“Shouldn’t there be?” Tyler persists. “Like, what about the band?”

“I’m pretty sure they already know,” Jamie replies with a shrug. “The other day, Rig asked me when we were going to have babies, then he asked which one of us was getting pregnant. I’m pretty sure that they know.” 

“Yeah,” Tyler agrees. “I asked Spezz about it, like about you,” he explains, “and Spezz said that if we managed to make it this far, the band would probably be fine with it. But like…boyfriends? I’ve never had a boyfriend before.” 

“That’s what I want,” Jamie states, “I want to be boyfriends. And I want to go on dates, and I wanna fucking kiss you whenever I want, fuck the media. I want to make music with you, and make love with you, and wake up with you every fucking morning. That’s what I want.” 

“I want that too,” Tyler admits. “I want all of that, Jamie.” 

Jamie leans in now, presses his lips to Tyler’s and doesn’t hesitate to slide his tongue in. He tilts Tyler’s head back to gain more access, then ends up lowering him down on the couch so that they can rub up against each other as well. “Babe,” Jamie breathes, testing out the term for the first time. “I had this plan this morning, that we would check into the hotel, maybe smoke a little, maybe drink a little, and maybe have a lot of sex. Any of that interest you, boyfriend?”

“Jamie, what the fuck! What didn’t you say so earlier?” Jamie feels him roll his hips against his own, feels Tyler already getting hard in his jeans, and he has to kiss him again. He slides his hands up beneath Tyler’s shirt and digs his fingers into his skin. He can’t get enough of this guy, and now he gets to keep him. The whole thing is making Jamie feel lightheaded, like they’ve already smoked together. This is making him feel like Tyler catching him singing that song is the best thing that’s ever happened to him. 

“You had this whole plan,” Jamie tells him, “and we had a good fucking day. Now let me take you to bed. I wanna fucking touch you everywhere.” 

“Yes,” Tyler hisses. “Fuck yes, babe.”

Jamie kisses him once more but then he has to force himself to get off of Tyler. Iff they stay on the couch, he’s not going to get Tyler stripped down, and they’re just going to jerk each other off or something. Jamie wants more than that, especially since they have a real bed for once. 

He strips off his shirt almost as soon as he stands, reaches for his belt buckle too. He watches Tyler’s hungry eyes travel up and down his body as he strips off his clothes, watches as Tyler licks his lips when he drags his underwear down his legs. “Bed?” Jamie suggests. 

“Yeah,” Tyler replies, “fucking yes, Jamie Benn.”

Jamie shoots him a grin and then turns around to walk over to their bed. He’s positive that he can feel Tyler’s eyes tracking the way his ass moves and it makes him feel like he’s on top of the world. He climbs onto the bed; mere seconds pass before Tyler is on his feet, basically ripping off his clothes and then climbing on Jamie to straddle him. Immediately, Jamie fits his hands around Tyler’s hips and then around to squeeze his ass.

“We’re doing it like this,” Tyler tells him. “I wanna fucking ride you babe, I want you to get deep.”

Jamie blows out a breath, nods quickly in agreement. “I don’t think you know how beautiful you are. I can’t keep my eyes off of you.”

“Flaterrer,” Tyler teases. “But you can look all you want. All of this is for you,” he says as he runs his hand down over his abs. 

“Fuck,” Jamie whimpers, tracking Tyler’s hands with his eyes. “Where’s the fucking lube, Ty?”

It’s like Tyler had known they were going to do this, because he’s already placed the condoms and lube on the bedside table closeby. He pops the lube open and spreads it over his fingers. “As much as I like it when you finger fuck me, I want you to watch.” 

Jamie groans at that. The idea of Tyler straddling him and stretching himself out makes his dick twitch, makes him want to just bury himself in Tyler, makes him want to fuck him stupid. He watches as Tyler reaches behind himself, steadies his hips with his hands. He sees the way Tyler gets even harder when he presses that second finger inside of himself, watches Tyler bite his lip as he rolls his hips against his hand. “Come on, babe,” Jamie urges. “You look so fucking amazing like this. I’m so damn lucky that you let me see you, that you let me fuck you. I’m so fucking lucky that you love me.”

“Fuck Jamie, you can’t say shit like that,” Tyler breathes, “you’re gonna make me come.”

“That’s what I want. I want to take you apart, watch you as you’re overcome with it, and know it’s because of me.” 

He watches as Tyler lets out a broken moan and and lifts his hips. Jamie thinks it’s probably to slide in a third finger, so he keeps running his hands over Tyler’s hips and abs, keeps touching him because he won’t ever get enough of it. Too soon, Tyler is pulling his fingers out and reaching for a condom. Jamie’s too desperate to deny him anything, so when he rolls it down over his dick and subsequently sinks down on him, all. Jamie can do is let him. 

“Fuck Ty, you feel so good,” Jamie whispers brokenly. “It doesn’t matter how often we do this, I still wanna fucking do it all the time.”

“Yes,” Tyler agrees. “Whenever you fucking want. I’m yours.”

Jamie can’t help it, he has to move his hips, fuck up into Tyler as he grasps his hips to steady him. After that, neither of them can form words. They fuck in as many positions as they can, until they end up face to face with Tyler on his back, legs hooks over Jamie’s shoulders, while Jamie fucks into him over and over and over again. Jamie doesn’t think Tyler needs it, is positive that he can make him come just like this, but he slides his hand between them to jerk Tyler off when he feels him getting close. “Yes, yes, yes,” he urges. “Come on, baby, make a fucking mess of me.”

Tyler whimpers as he comes. He whimpers and goes liquid in Jamie’s arms. “Jamie,” he breathes, right against Jamie’s neck. “Fucking fill me up.”

His words along with the way his entrance is pulsing around Jamie’s cock in the aftermath of his orgasm are what do it for Jamie. He finds himself overwhelmed by pleasure, finds himself biting down on Tyler’s shoulder as he comes with one last thrust. “Fuck,” he whispers. “Fuck Ty, fuck.”

“Yeah, buddy,” Tyler chuckles. “Let’s do this all fucking night.” 

Jamie laughs and hugs Tyler tightly to him. “We can. Just like, gimme a minute or two, yeah?”

“I suppose,” Tyler teases. Jamie feels him brush the hair off his brow, smiles at Tyler who is smiling right back at him. “Guess what, babe.”

“What babe?”

“I love you.”

Jamie can’t help it, he has to kiss Tyler after that. When he pulls away, he’s still grinning. “I love you too.”


	9. It’s Love, It’s Love, It’s Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title from _Bonus Mosh Part II_ by Taking Back Sunday

They barely make it on time to soundcheck the next morning, having been too busy taking advantage of the hotel bed. Tyler knows that he still looks totally blissed out and can see that Jamie does too. He doesn’t even care that everyone will know exactly how hard Jamie fucked him that morning, he’s got a boyfriend now, and the guys are just going to have to get used to it. He shoots Jamie a wide grin before they head out onto the stage where Rig is perched on one of the amps.

“Hey, can you guys come here? We’ve got something to tell you,” Jamie announces. Tyler feels him wrap an arm around his waist, and figures that none of this is really going to come as a surprise to them. He and Jamie have been terrible at keeping any of this a secret, even when they were supposed to try.

Rig and Klinger both approach them, and Bish appears from the other side of the stage. “Is this about the fact that you made out in front of the entire country at a baseball game yesterday?” Bish sighs, “because we’ve been handling it, but we aren’t really sure what we should be saying to the media because denying that you two are fucking is impossible now.”

“Then don’t deny it,” Jamie replies, shrugging. “We’re definitely fucking, and we’re not gonna hide it anymore.”

“We’re not just fucking,” Tyler adds. “We’re boyfriends now, and we just wanted everyone to know.”

He watches Bish’s face as he says it and is surprised to see his frown soften into something more impressed and welcoming. “It’s about fucking time,” he tells them. “I’m glad you got your heads out of your asses.”

“We’ve been expecting wedding invitations for weeks now,” Klinger adds.

“We’ve only known each other for a month!” Tyler protests. They can’t have been _that_ obvious.

“And?” Klinger responds.

“I call best man,” Rig proclaims. “I deserve it.” 

“The fuck you do!” Bish interrupts. “I’ve been the one dealing with all this shit since the beginning. Miro is literally losing his mind about the kiss cam and it’s me that has to do damage control. If anyone is gonna be best man, it’s gonna be me.”

“I dibsed it,” Rig shrugs. “Maybe you can be Jamie’s best man.”

“Uh… Jordie might be a little mad about that. Besides, we’re not getting married,” Jamie counters. “At least not yet anyway.”

That gets Tyler’s attention, and he turns to face Jamie. “Not yet? You wanna marry me?” He’s never even considered marriage in the future, since he’s always been so fickle in his relationships, but he never wants to fall out of love with Jamie, and marriage is a natural progression of being in love with someone. Besides, he thinks that he could really like being married if Jamie’s the one he’s married to.

“Not like, tomorrow or anything,” Jamie clarifies. “But if things go as well as I expect them to, then yeah.”

“Fucking romantic, Jesus fucking Christ,” Tyler replies fondly. “God, I love you.”

“I love you too,” Jamie says sweetly.

Tyler is about to tilt his head up for a kiss when someone clears their throat. “So, now that you’ve figured out your shit, can I give Miro a call? We need to change our entire strategy about how we’re handling the situation, so…”

“Wait,” Tyler says, “first, Jamie wrote a song for me, and we wanna play it tonight. It’s fucking unreal.”

“Ty, we don’t have time to learn a new song,” Klinger states, “like, I want to, but we play in like, five hours. That’s not long enough.”

“I was gonna play it alone, like, acoustically,” Jamie replies. Tyler can already tell that he’s nervous about it, but when they’d talked about it last night, he’d been adamant. “Tyler makes me braver,” he says quietly. He’d said it last night too, but that doesn’t stop the words from making Tyler’s heart melt.

“Let’s hear it then,” Bish encourages. 

Jamie nods and then picks up one of the guitars nearby. He makes sure that it’s tuned and then checks the strap on it. Tyler can tell that he’s a bit nervous, but he can also see the determined set to his face. He knows that Jamie’s got this; he has never doubted Jamie’s capabilities when it comes to music.

Instead of watching Jamie when he starts to sing, Tyler watches the other guys. He knows that the song isn’t what they would normally play, but he doesn’t care. Jamie wrote it for him, and Tyler absolutely believes that Jamie thinks they’re lucky to have found each other. 

Once Jamie finishes, Tyler takes in the awed faces of Bish and the rest of the band. “My boyfriend is fucking unreal, am I right?” 

“Boyfriend,” Bish repeats. “That’s so fucking cute.” 

“You sure that you don’t need backup tomorrow?” Rig asks. “Like you’re gonna do it all alone?”

“Yeah,” Jamie replies. 

“Okay,” Klinger states, “let’s do it.”

Hours later, they’re back on the stage together again. Jamie is picking up the acoustic guitar and telling the crowd that he’s written something special for someone special. They’d released the news earlier that day, so Tyler doesn’t think anyone is surprised when Jamie shoots a significant look his way. Tyler can’t help but grin back at him. 

“Let’s hear it then,” he says into his mic.

With a nod, Jamie starts to play. Tyler is enraptured from the first note, just watching Jamie express his feelings through the song that he wrote for him. Tyler has never had any doubt that Jamie can do this with them, but this just proves it. Jamie wrote a song, and now he’s singing it in front of a sold out crowd in Pittsburgh. 

Once Jamie finishes, he smiles sweetly Tyler’s way, and Tyler had to lean into the mic and say, “Hey Bish, permission to kiss my boyfriend in front of all of these beautiful people?” He watches Bish laugh and nod against the backdrop of the cheering crowd. Tyler arches an eyebrow at Jamie and walks toward him, but Jamie meets him halfway. In a display of the dramatic, Jamie dips him down and kisses him. Tyler’s laughing by the time he pulls him back up, and he has to kiss Jamie again.

When he finally takes his place at his microphone again, he says, “Let’s hear it for my boyfriend, Jamie Benn!” 

The screams from the crowd drown out the beginning of their next song, but they keep going anyway. After it’s all over and done with, after the last chord has rung out, Jamie leans into his microphone, sweaty and smiling, and says, “we’re _Dirty_ fucking _Dangles_ and we love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOOOOOOOOOOOLY Shit you guys. This is the longest thing we’ve ever written in any fandom. It’s also very very very self indulgent. One of us has a deep rooted and eternal love for pop punk, and has wanted to write band au for years now, so we took advantage of the opportunity when HBB came around this year. We really hope you enjoyed reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it. Thanks for coming along for the ride!

**Author's Note:**

> Song List:  
1\. _You’re So Last Summer_ \- Taking Back Sunday  
2\. _Bonus Mosh Part II_ \- Taking Back Sunday  
3\. _I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)_ \- The Proclaimers  
4\. _Bonus Mosh Part II_ \- Taking Back Sunday (Again)  
5\. _#5 With a Bullet_ \- Taking Back Sunday  
6\. _Bonus Mosh Part II_ \- Taking Back Sunday (Again)  
7\. _Sink Into Me_ \- Taking Back Sunday  
8\. _Alone with You_ \- In Her Own Words  
9\. _Lucky Ones_ \- Logan Staats  
10\. _Bonus Mosh Part II_ \- Taking Back Sunday (Again)
> 
> We're also around on [tumblr](https://why-so-drama.tumblr.com/). If you have any questions, comments or asks, hit us up ;)


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